From one Snake to another
by Abel Sephaos
Summary: When dealing with Snakes, beware least you find yourself stuck in a bind. In which Harry Potter learns the true meaning of treachery and carves his own path in retaliation. England beware, a new Sage walks among you.
1. Enter the White Snake

_From one Snake to another_

_Chapter 1, Enter the White Snake_

_Just another attempt at sating my muse_

_A Harry Potter/Naruto mash up_

_I do not own anything related to either the Harry Potter or the Naruto franchises_

_AN: This is just something that popped into my head. I'm hoping that SOMEONE at least enjoys this._

_=+FoStA+=_

Sasuke moved through the tree tops with purpose, his ebony eyes staring forward in a cold focus. He couldn't afford to waste any time, having left his team behind at the nearest town whose name was inconsequential.

Today was the day his brother would die. Today was the day he would have his vengeance. The cursed seal of heaven pulsed slightly under his skin, reminding the youth of the man whose clutches he had ruthlessly ripped himself from.

Team Hebi had been the result of him freeing himself of his debt to Orochimaru's, leaving the man's once expansive operations in ruins. Otogakure was surely being dismantled by Kabuto by now, leaving Sasuke to freely recruit what remained of the Hebi Sennins elite forces and prisoners.

Karin, Juugo, Suigetsu and himself made up the group, each having sworn to help Sasuke in his endeavors. That was enough to bring a small smile to Sasukes normally stoic visage. The three were slowly growing on him, but he didn't dare trust or let them too close to him. Not until he killed his Brother and avenged his once powerful clan.

The sound of a sharp projectile splitting through the air towards him caused him to leap down from the tree tops, flinging a volley of senbon charged with Raiton Chakra towards where the Kunai came from.

The sound of a dull impact implicated Kawarimi reached Sasuke's ears milliseconds before he rolled to his left, large clumps of earth slamming into his previous position.

The sound of screeching birds filled the air, the stench of Ozone stung Sasukes eyes and nose slightly.

"Come out, Kakashi," The ebon haired teen spat, "You won't be able to kill me with that technique any longer." His own Chidori sprung to life around his left arm, his right holding his Chokuto slightly out of its sheath.

Kakashi walked calmly from behind a tree fifteen feet from in front of Sasuke, his Sharingan already uncovered and pulsating with power. Sasuke could see from the way his chakra weaved in his left eye that nothing good would come of this confrontation.

'Why has his Sharingan started… producing its own Chakra?' Sasuke asked himself, watching as a willowhisp like energy began to permeate Kakashi's body.

"I've come to bring you back, Sasuke. We cannot allow you to kill Itachi under Hokage-sama's orders."

Sasuke was taken aback, his cold expression splitting into one of confusion. "What makes you think I'm going to listen to your damned Hokage's word?" He slowly began to weave his Chakra into a genjutsu he copied from Itachi in one of their earlier confrontations.

Kakashi let loose an audible sigh, his Raikiri only growing stronger. "Sasuke, Itachi was ORDERED to kill your clan by the three elders behind the Sandaime's back," Kakashi began, sorrow filling his voice at what he was about to tell Sasuke, "The Uchiha were planning a coup, Sasuke, Itachi is loyal to the leaf more so than I can ever say I am."

Sasukes world reeled at the revelation, Sorrow and Anger racing through him like never before. His world began to crumble as he tried to comprehend what Kakashi said to him.

A warm liquid dripped from his face as his eyes began to burn, his Chidori slowly fading as he clutched his face with his right hand. "You... You're lying. MY FAMILY WOULD NEVER-"

He stopped yelling as his eyes began to stop burning. He slowly opened his crimson orbs and stared at Kakashi with new-found clarity. 'Mangekyou…'

Kakashi watched on as Sasuke clutched his head, but flinched when the younger man opened his eyes again. "Damn it! Sasuke, listen to me!"

Black flames rushed towards Kakashi, having sprung forth from Sasukes right eye, now in the shape of an atomic star. Sasuke watched as Kakashi weaved the whispy black chakra into something… more than complex.

Kamui. Sasuke then knew the power that Kakashi wielded, the power that Kakashi stole. His own eyes immediately began to pump that whispy chakra forth from his own left eye, pushing his body and his body alone into his own sub-dimension. What he didn't know is that his own Kamui would un-anchor Orochimaru's cursed seal from his body, leaving a pulsating white mass in his previous spot.

The two space-time techniques clashed in a torrent of black energy with a foreign, almost alien origin. The mass of Orochimaru's soul and Chakra was sucked into the technique, as well as the black flames that threatened to consume the clearing the two were now battling it out in. Sasuke fazed back into existence with a slight stinging sensation in his left eye, blood leaking from his tear ducts with reckless abandon.

The Chakra induced rift slowly began to close, having been stained purple and grey by the writhing spirit hidden in the cursed seal, not that Sasuke and Kakashi knew that. Little did they know that the conflict they had changed the very course of history in another dimension, far removed from their own.

=+FoStA+=

Harry Potter was a child of seven years old and an almost untold amount of anguish. He was dealt a foul hand at just three months of age, his birth parents having been ripped from him by a man long tainted by darkness. Voldemort may have killed his parents in cold blood, but it was his mother's love that saved his life from the Dark Lords killing curse.

Since a young age, he has been treated like a slave by his so called 'relatives'. When he would ask questions, they would lock him under the stairs for days at a time. If he ever spoke out against any 'chores' they gave him, they would lock him under the stairs for days.

Food was a scarcity for the boy despite having to cook breakfast and dinner for the creatures masquerading as humans. They didn't always beat him; it just started a year ago abruptly. The starving was always something he hated, weakness wracking his very bones.

One day he asked the wrong question, having built up his courage over the course of his short life."What happened to my real parents?"

This beating was the most vicious the boy had ever experienced. His arms most likely would never be the same, having been broke at an odd angle in more than one place.

His eyes were swollen shut, and his ears rang and muted Vernon Dursleys' raging voice. Harry only saw a fist before the man began bellowing.

His limp body, barely clinging to consciousness was picked up carelessly by the walrus of a man and dragged to his company car. "You just couldn't keep your freak mouth shut, could you boy?" The man raged, throwing the limp child into the trunk of the car.

Harry stared bleakly into the darkness that fell over him, his mind barely registering what was happening to him. His wounds began to immediately hiss shut as they always did, his arm popping painfully back into place.

This was a common occurrence to the child, whose life was shrouded in pure misery. He could remember the night his parents died, or at least he could remember the screaming. He could remember the treatment he always dealt with. Dudley and his crooked crew would gang up on him during recess, breaking a different bone in every conflict they started.

By the time recess was over the wounds would have healed themselves and leave him in as good of shape as he could be in. It was always just enough to not be able to implicate his treatment to the school nurse or teachers.

Harry's foul cousin knew that he could heal faster than normal and took advantage of this on a daily basis, venting his frustration on the defenseless boy.

He wasn't quite sure where his uncle was taking him, but anywhere was better than that accursed house.

Time moved on as the car rumbled across the highway, however much Harry wasn't sure. It was almost silent if not for the dull roar of the highway, giving the child time to recover from his most recent encounters with his uncles' meaty fists.

Vernon Dursley was a very vindictive man, having thought long and hard on how he would rid himself of Harry.

He was not always a raging psychopath, but for the past year he would have constant nightmares of his so called nephew killing him in hundreds of different ways.

'The boy things he can torment me, huh?!' the man thought to himself one morning, having finally grown tired of waking up in a cold sweat.

For the past month the man had looked far and wide for the area to ditch the child, looking for an area furthest from Little Whinning without going too far out of his way.

The man finally found the perfect area to be rid of the cause of his torture while driving to Grunnings, having had to take an alternate path to work because of a large car accident.

One wrong turn on his route and Vernon found himself in the very location he knew the freak would feel "At Home".

West Park Mental Hospital was spitefully nicknamed "The Asylum" by the few folks who knew of it. The institution was abandoned just fifteen years prior and was far removed from town due to a 'Mass Ritual Suicide' that took place on Halloween night, 1945.

The large West Park area was at one point a thriving organization and spanned out enough to contain boiler houses and plant houses for each of the four main buildings. A Chapel rested in the middle of the four expansive buildings and was thoroughly decorated in the visage of Christ.

A water tower rested twenty feet to the right of the chapel, large enough to supply water to hundreds of people for months.

A large ballroom was built into the North Hospital Block during the thirties right after the conclusion of World War One due to the influx of veterans and widows in the wake of the massive conflict.

At one point the area was beautiful beyond words, but the years have not been kind to the sprawling health center.

There was only one road leading to the expansive complex with extremely dense woodlands surrounding both the asylum and dirt road.

The walrus in human flesh had barely gotten out of the place before almost going into cardiac arrest caused by fright.

Something whispered in Vernon's ear during his retreat from the haunted grounds, something that chilled the man to the bones, 'bring the boy here… bring the boy here.'

They finally came to a halt, but the car never stopped running. Harry could hear his uncle getting out of his car, coming around to the trunk while angrily murmuring under his breath.

"Come on, Freak, get out of my car!" The man roared, opening the trunk and hefting the innocent child from the vehicle.

"You are not coming back with me boy, you're on your own. Petunia and I have put up with you freaks for long enough!" The demented man screamed, waving his hands in the air like a lunatic.

"We brought you in and gave you a roof over your head!" Harry stared on in horror as the man continued to rant and rave, the man was gripped in an unnatural anger that made the child's heart pound in his ears.

The damage to his body was not as severe as it could have been, but he knew that he couldn't take much more and expect to survive.

His lungs burned from the ribs that pierced the frail organ, not quite healed from the massive beating he took.

"You will no longer taint my good family with your devilry, pray that this is the last time we cross paths! Good riddance!" The obese man yelled, clamoring back into his small vehicle with slight difficulty.

Harry watched through blurry eyes as the man put his car into reverse and sped backwards through the alley.

Relief gripped the innocent child in a vice grip as his tormentor fled away, but a sorrow deeper than anything he's ever felt fell over him soon after.

'This is it, huh?' Harry asked himself, the concussive blows of his uncle and aunt still fogging his mind. 'I need to find somewhere to rest.'

The area around him was still well lit by the afternoon sun, though the shade cast by the buildings surrounding him was more than welcome to the youth.

His eyes were sensitive to the light due to years of being locked into the dark cupboard under the stairs. He began to take stock of his injuries slowly, not wanting to jar his wounds or any still in the healing process.

Harry began to limp towards the closest of the buildings around him that was vaguely designed like a chapel.

Stained glass windows of every color Harry could think of decorated the entrance area of the building, though he barely registered what he was looking at as he shuffled through the building.

His glasses had been knocked off on the first blow, maybe the second. His vision has completely deteriorated due to being forced to wear the bargain bin items.

When Harry was younger, his vision had been perfect, more so than average. The optometrist that had visited the lads' primary school during the annual check-up had given the lad a perfect bill while his cousin Dudley was recommended to get prescription lenses immediately.

Needless to say, there was no love lost now that Vernon has abandoned him. The child couldn't bring himself to fear his situation, for whatever odd reason he could think of.

Freedom, first and foremost, was sweet. While burning pain echoed through his body with every heavy step he took, he was thanking whatever higher power existed for finally being free of the tyrannical reign of his flesh and blood relatives.

A sigh broke through the boys lips, his mind carefully wiped blank from the trauma he continuously suffered from his only surviving family.

'If I never see them again it will be too soon.' The neglected child thought forlornly, slowly shifting his small frame into the main lobby of the holy ground.

Harry's eyes were too blurry to make out any distinct details of the place, only using vague shapes and afternoon sunlight filtering through the multi-colored glass to guide his way.

He finally reached a small incline and almost fell forward if not for him flailing wildly and gripping the nearest object to him.

The wounded boy slowly lowered himself down into a sitting position after finding and oddly cushioned chair by feeling his way around. Gently he began to go over his wounds again, feeling out where the most critical damage lingered.

Just before he passed out from exhaustion, he heard a strange ripping sound, unlike anything he had ever heard before in his short life. Little did he know that when he awoke, he would be no longer exist as just an abandoned child who clung to life with feverish delirium derived from a mothers love.

=+FoStA+=

Blood magick is something that very few witches or wizards ever delved into, not only due to the extremely dark alignment of it, but due to its complexity.

Lily Evans was a witch bright well beyond her years. Lily is what most bigoted ancient houses called a 'mudblood', or a muggleborn witch with no distinctive bloodline to support her as far as she knew.

She was a curious child who discovered her magick at a very young with her childhood friend Severus. Lily's entrance into the magic world was like a rising star, having torn through the Hogwarts curriculum at record breaking rates, only falling just shy of Albus Dumbledores' own extraordinary flight to fame.

Lily was no fool by any means of the word, catching wind of the twinkling eyed man's machinations to bring her and James Potter together in 'holy matrimony'. She confided deeply within Severus, who in turn had urged her to research further into the dark arts, if only to protect her from the manipulative headmaster.

Months into her sixth year at Hogwarts, she was slowly but surely fed love potions brewed by Professor Slughorn at the behest of Dumbledore.

After consuming enough, she was susceptible to the influence of the nefarious Gryffindor who quickly severed her and the Slytherin students' friendship.

The years passed in a haze for the young lady, barely scraping by her NEWTS thanks to the foreign substance constantly being fed to her through the meals she ate.

It was only during a week of constant ambushes at the hands of Voldemorts death eaters bombarding hers and James safe house that her husband ran out of love potions.

Lily noticed immediately that something was wrong when her body began to show signs of potion addiction when she didn't take ANY potions regularly.

Lily realized with growing fear that she was being manipulated and began to take small bezoars with every meal to negate its effects though it was too late to stop her from being married into the Potter family with no way out save death.

After the assault finally ended due to Auror forces finally breaking through the frontlines, the redhead made an appointment with the 'head' of the department of mysteries so that she might get a job and stay away from the man she was forced to marry.

As an Unspeakable, she had access to magicks either very restricted or outright forbidden outside of ministry usage. Her husband, James Potter, was unaware of the darkness his wife delved into, having gotten deeply involved in the first war against the Dark Lord Voldemort along with the rest of the Order of the Phoenix.

The organization was headed by the so called Light Lord Dumbledore, the very man who held many public offices in the palm of his hands. The two would be couple never spent too much time together after Lily found out she was pregnant with his child, the woman having distanced herself from him by delving head first into her work.

The night that Tom Riddle Jr. attacked her home in Godricks Hollow, Lily had prepared a long thought lost ritual to tie her very blood and soul to Harry using the power drawn from Samhain.

Her magicks would be bound to the mortal realm for as long as Harry even had a shred of life left in him, protecting him from the horrors sure to become of him.

She had scryed years into the future and sent astral projections of herself to key locations, the spells having been stuck in a stasis of sorts until certain events came to pass.

Voldemort chose the wrong night to attack the family, and even though he had killed Harry's parents, he failed to kill the child.

The lightning bolt scar that lay upon Harry's brow was tainted with the very dark arts that Lily's blood magicks protected him from, a piece of Voldemorts soul itself.

=+FoStA+=

Reality began to churn slowly as the fabrics of space and time unraveled inside of the Chapel, right on top of the spot that the boy-who-lived recently passed out upon to heal from his recent beating and abandonment at the hands of his last living relatives.

Power beyond the greatest minds of this world was what powered the technique, breaking the laws that even the greatest of wizards could not.

At that very moment in time, two dimensions far, far removed from each other came into contact with one another.

Ambient magick from the massive ritual that was sure to have taken place in those hallowed grounds was pulled into the chaotic rift, adding power and unpredictability to the mix thanks to the very nature of magic.

The spirit and what once was a man fallen from grace twisted and churned in the breach in reality, raw knowledge and memories left over from the cursed seal of heaven, as well as the pale purple tinted sage chakra that allowed for the second stage of the cursed seal.

DNA that was being syphoned off of Sasuke was present in the mix; the Uchiha Chakra needed to sustain any of their clan abilities present in the strange concoction being fueled by all-encompassing power.

The rift formed by Kamui opened up right on top of Harry's body, pulling the boy into the writhing mass of grey and purple that once made up the snake sannin. Time and space began to pull the boy apart, make him less than whole. If not for the powerful protective magick behind his mother's love, Harry would not have survived this freak encounter with an attack from far beyond his realm.

As his body and soul began to reach critical condition, the ritual lily began to pump its accumulated magic into the destabilized particles and writhing flesh, bone and blood.

Lily's blood runes began to appear in the air around the Chakra and Magic fused rip in reality, forcing the mass to start to coagulate into a vaguely human shape.

Minutes ticked by as the crimson colored runes hung suspended in the air, glowing ominously in the mostly shut shipping container.

DNA from the two bodies began to twist into one, forming more and more detail upon the childish form of magic, blood and natures very own chakra.

The powerful runes began to push the spirit of Harry back into the now whole body; Voldemorts scar still lingering above his right brow began to spew black smoke from the wounded flesh.

A terrible scream pierced the din caused by reality being ripped open, so terrible it was sure to stop a normal man's heart if they were unfortunate enough to be present.

Kamui continued to spin inside of boy's body, the runes of his mother and her very love forcing the technique to seal itself away in the boys left eye.

A small amount of DNA that the seal syphoned off of Sasuke allowed the blood magicks to build an incomplete Sharingan based on Orochimaru's understanding of the bloodline trait.

The dark flames of Ameterasu poured out of the void as it was sucked into Harry's body, burning away small sections of the chapel the young tormented boy holed himself in.

The black inferno soon became calm and sat around the boy in a small circle; the runes that forced Kamui into his left eye began to do the same for the flames in the boys right.

A terrible scream tore through Harry's throat as the lightning bolt shaped scar started sizzling and sparking, the soul fragment of Voldemorts become loose by the powerful Kamui and absorbed into the young child much like the Chakra and Soul of Orochimaru's.

The runes along his body continued to glow a baleful shade of red for hours as Harry's body and mind began to filter the two extra sets of memories and skills left behind by the now shattered soul fragments that drifted through his being.

Lily's Blood Magick began to stabilize the boy-who-lived, leaving the knowledge in young Harry's possession but pulling the spirits of the two beings into subspace where she currently resided.

Tom was the weaker of the two, his phantom panting shallowly as if heavily wounded. Orochimaru stared on in fascination as the woman weaved thread after thread of pure spiritual energy into a strange web in the reconstructed being.

The knowledge of Chakra theory and anything related to Shinobi was imprinted deep into the mind of the young child, the blood runes activating the already present coils needed to channel the foreign energy.

Three hundred and sixty one Chakra points sprang to life within him, channeling the snake sannins energy and vitalizing the very cells that made up Harry Potters body.

Knowledge and memories, each dark in their own right implanted themselves onto Harry's soul, a centuries worth of bloodshed collectively now at his beck and call.

Wandless magick, apparition, rituals both dark and light lingered in his mind, just beneath the surface. While both minds had more experience, their souls were no longer present due to the spirit of Lily, leaving behind a seven year old child with control over a power he could only understand through both of the vile men's experiences and raw knowledge.

When Harry awoke next, he was screaming. For what seemed like an hour he screamed, for the darkness he continued to see in his memories, or what he could assume were his at least, was tormenting him. He saw himself being chastised by a brown haired man with crow's feet forming around his eyes.

He remembered grieving for parents he knows he didn't have. He remembered a man named Jiraiya and how he was always getting himself in to trouble, even though Harry himself did not know anyone named Jiraiya.

He saw himself practicing how to project killing intent with team mates he didn't have. He heard himself be called Orochimaru and knew that they were talking to him.

He saw two wars and hundreds of skirmishes he never took part in, death at his hands, even if they weren't HIS hands. Harry could remember snakes who could speak his own tongue, teaching him in a desolate cave to summon forth Nature's own energy.

Fuuinjutsu theory was present in his mind, from basic sealing scrolls to the horrible theory behind the cursed seals. Juuinjutsu was something Harry slowly told himself he would never, ever make the mistake of dabbling in as his Sannin counterpart had.

He saw himself sitting in an orphanage, holding his knees to his face while the room around him burned. He saw an old man with twinkling blue eyes visit him; tell him that Magic was real.

He saw himself attend a school called 'Hogwarts' for seven years, and all of the horrible things in between. He remembered splitting his soul and placing it into a diary, a cup, a ring, a necklace, he could remember everything.

Faces of loyal followers, of traitors and those without magic, the faces of the tortured, the beaten, all of the death at the hands of Tom Marvolo Riddle Jr. flashed through his mind. Rituals both light and dark, magicks of everything in between engraved themselves into his mindscape, which was still a maelstrom that was tearing the boys mind apart.

The knowledge of Occlumency came to Harry's mind in a moment of weakness, causing the boy to faintly smile as he sat down in a meditative position.

Curiosity and sadness had conquered the snake sannins world early, his parents having died in the first shinobi war to a brutal Iwa assault squad. They died miles from the warfront in a town that was no longer standing. His pursuit of immortality was ill begotten, having derived from his fear of human weakness. Orochimaru went from a weak being to the embodiment of the shinobi code during the second Great War, having barely survived the fight with Hanzo along with his team mates. Orochimaru walked the path of shadows just weeks after the conflict in Amegakure and joined Danzo's Ne organization after retiring from the regular ANBU forces. His spiral into madness was due to constant manipulations of the old warhawk, whose inhumane training broke what was left of the man's spirit. Orochimaru later left the root organization for a stint in the criminal organization 'Akatsuki', using them as cover to pursue further into the depths of human experimentation and bloodline limits.

Anger and misery had dominated the dark lords' life from a very young age, being a halfblooded bastard child of a squib and a muggle man under the sway of a love potion. He was placed in an orphanage just months after being born, his mother falling into madness after her husband left her upon his discovery of her treacherous potions. Tom was ridiculed by his peers daily as a child, the women who ran the orphanage doing nothing to stop them. Day after day, he was pushed, punched, kicked, spat upon by the heathen children. It was his tenth birthday when the magic coursing through his veins kicked in, transfiguring one of the matrons of the orphanage into a green viper in a fit of rage. That was the day he learned he was a parseltongue. Dumbledore had shown his face not too long after that, trying to manipulate the young boy towards his own 'greater good'. Tom Riddle went on to become one of the biggest monsters this world has ever seen, only outstripped by the pure power that Grindlewald used to enslave Nazi Germany in the fourties. The Slytherin had manipulated the young and old pureblooded families, subjugating them into his personal army.

Innocence and love were what made up Harry's world, no matter the abuse he suffered at the hands of his remaining family. Late at night when he would cry himself to sleep, the boy would swear he could hear a woman singing to him. Early in the mornings, even when he was at his weakest could he feel a presence around him unlike anything he could describe. The sacrifice his mother made when he was only three months old saved him from the killing curse, and it continued to save him even till now. His capacity for affection was unsurpassed by children and adults alike, though he had no idea how to truly express himself. He held his cards close to his chest when dealing with the Dursley family, never giving them the vaguest hint at his thoughts.

Harry refused to let the animals masquerading as family break him instead of becoming the mindless slave they thought he was. Day after day was a war in its own as his Magical Core spent most of its contents on stopping the boy from passing away due to malnourishment. His mother's sacrificial bond kept the boy whole and sane, no matter what evils faced him. Harry continued to drift in the void as the three sets of memories continued to meld together.

Just as the black and red mass was about to cast Harry out of his body, a bright light froze the three fighting wraiths in place. A woman's voice began to chant in a language the Potter boy had never heard before, leaving him filled with a sense of numbness. The woman's presence in his mind startled him, her face staring back at him in the darkened void that made up his soulscape. No words were spoken, but Harry knew instinctively who she was. He tried to stretch his arms to reach out to the fiery haired woman only for her to shake her head at him sadly.

'No, Harry. It is not yet time for us to reunite. This is going to be the last time I will see you until we get to meet at the crossroads… I love you, son, with all of my heart. I've done my best to contain this strange force into your body. There is so much you need to know, my child, so much I have to tell you. When you awake, you will be on your own, my son. This is going to take all of the magick left over from that night so long ago…'

Tears glistened in Lily's eyes as she stared forlornly at her son. She had watched his treatment at the hands of her sister and her husband throughout the years, having been disgusted by both Dumbledore and her so called 'sister' for their slights against her and her blood. Her times in the Department of Mysteries had not prepared her for the horrors that were lying in wait of her, but the ritual she performed was the pinnacle of Blood Magicks, stronger than any other protective rite known to the world. Harry would be well prepared for the arduous road ahead of him, that much she was certain of. She reached out and hugged the child tight to her chest as her body began to glow a liquid-like silver color.

'I'm going to use the last of my magic left to completely bind the memories and abilities of the outsiders into you, Harry, I hope you use the knowledge they leave behind well. This final bit of me should be strong enough to filter the taint left behind… Goodbye, my little snake…'

A storm of crimson, purple and green began to blend together before at last a golden light replaced the three. Soon the Potter scion fell from the golden sphere, only looking vaguely like he did before he forcefully blended with the two fragments.

The three phantoms that stood watch over the boy as he transcended from what he was before vanished into hundreds of orbs of light which began to swirl and combine with his soulscape, filling in the cracks and tears that gave the ebon haired child a feeling of dread. A great flash blinded Harry temporarily before dying down abruptly. Runes hung in the air around his ghostly visage, shooting past him into the darkness that consumed him.

The gaps in his spirit filled in finally, leaving behind an abyss that seemed to go on forever. The great void that once seemed so frightful beckoned the youth forward, deeper and deeper into the forcefully expanded space at the seat of his soul.

A snake with three heads hissed from the base of a massive tree that sprouted from the darkness. The tree seemed to be floating in the nothingness around him, its roots stretching further down into the darkness than was visible. Golden and crimson runic and shinobi sealing script surrounded the Yggdrasil like tree and the Behemoth of a snake that was easily ten times as large as Manda.

Harry stared down at the massive snake, taking its details into consideration as he continued his decent into darkness. Pale white scales covered it from snout to tail, easily stretching on for hundreds of feet.

The furthest left head had beautiful golden eyes rimmed by a royal purple hue. Upon its head rested eight gnarled horns, each twisting into the others to form a barbed crown. Due to the look in its eyes, Harry knew that this was the most intelligent of the three snakes. An aura of wisdom surrounded the majestic snake, leaving Harry with a thirst for knowledge so deeply rooted into his very being. The golden eyed snake stared up at the boy with terrible clarity before it tore its eyes away from Harrys, hissing softly as it did so.

The middle head had green eyes the shade of his mothers with the color of gold staining its upper eye lids. Two antlers stretched from its crown much like a deer's which confused the young man deeply. Of the three snakes, this one was the most familiar to the boy, as if he had known this being since the beginning of his existence. Courage radiated from the crest of this serpent in waves, pouring over Harry and refreshing his weary soul.

Of the three heads of the snake, the furthest most right was the most intimidating with crimson eyes surrounded with dark black. Spines and thorns spread from the snakes crown down to where the three heads connected into one body, whereas the other two only had the horns upon their crown. Fangs dripping a venomous concoction hung from the snakes mouth precariously, ready to strike and take the young man at any given moment. Pure unadulterated power leaked from the snake in a horrible miasma, threatening to suffocate the boy and snuff out his essence. Harry backed away from the vile creature with trepidation, not wanting to be in any sort of proximity of the being.

Harry's descent was finally slowed to a halt right at the base of the seemingly floating tree and stared up at the massive behemoth before him. The three heads swayed back and forth as they stared at the young man, each with a different expression written on its face.

The left most serpent was the most curious of the three, lowering its gigantic head until its snout was just feet from the boy. Its tongue quickly shot from its mouth and tasted the air around before taking its position next to the others again. The middle snake stared at the boy with a strange thousand yard gaze while the right most reptile glared at the boy with baleful carmine eyes. The three snakes began to hiss in unison, startling the boy from his silent reverie. Harry stared in shock as his mind began to translate what the snake was 'saying', so to speak.

Before the boy-who-lived could comprehend what the massive being said completely, his Spiritual representation began to fade. In the final moments before he was completely ejected from the base of his soul, he heard three voices in one say the same thing. 'Unity.'

=+FoStA+=

When the young boy opened his eyes again, he stared up at the ceiling of the holy building with startling clarity. The main part of the building he found himself in was covered in darkness, a testament to how much time had passed since the rift swallowed him up. Slowly he rose, stretching his muscles as he did so. He continued to stare into space for a moment, trying to come to terms with what had happened to him.

Harry smiled despite the circumstances, but it was not a happy smile. Bitterness began to boil beneath his calm visage, threatening to burst through the seams that connected his spirit to his vessel. With an absurd vigor the boy lowered himself into a meditative position to clear away the anger present in his thoughts. He began to construct a stronghold in his mind using his newfound knowledge of Occlumency in an attempt to calm his thoughts. Layer after layer he built and built, hiding away the desires and curiosity that was not his own. From the darkest depths to the brightest heights he constructed a massive structure tinged with two disconnected worlds.

Upon the upper most layers were where he hid Voldemorts darkest knowledge, deep within a stone compound vaguely resembling a twisted Hogwarts. Obsidian structures carved by madness stuck out from the grotesque monument, blanketing the surface world in darkness unlike anything outside of the Great Abyss. A crimson moon hung in the sky with clouds the color of Avada Kedavra spellfire weaving themselves through the sky. A backdrop darker than black hung precariously in the sky, clear of any starlight whatsoever. Suits of armor reminisce of both Samurai and ancient Knights rose from the ground like zombies, standing within the massive fields of the haunting castle. Using his knowledge of Occlumency he forced an anchor point in the fields, so that any who attempted to gain the knowledge of this portion of his mindscape would be forced to 'spawn' in the middle of his monstrous army.

Deep beneath the surface of Not-Hogwarts saw the construction of a false Otogakure almost completely reminisce of the hidden village now in ruins. Twisting paths and turns that lead any who attempt to steal his knowledge and thoughts into dead ends and horrible traps lay scattered throughout the labyrinth. No clear path was made for anyone but Harry himself to traverse. Millions upon millions of serpents of both Magickal and Chakra based writhed and slithered to and fro across the sprawling maze, sure to kill any and all who dare step foot in his mind besides Harry and those he might allow. Shinobi wearing the standard Oto garb lay hidden in the wake of Harry, protecting his mind further from his would be intruders. After testing each and every trap for any imperfections did he finally leave his true mindscape, ready to face the world without anyone to tell him what to do.

With a wave of his hand, Harry conjured a full body mirror using Voldemorts most basic wandless magick. The Boy that stared back at him was NOT the boy he was when he woke this morning, but due to what he just went through that was unsurprising to him.

His body stood at 5'1" with skin paler than he had ever seen on a living being before. Ebony locks drifted to his mid back, glistening in the light of the moon. Green eyes with golden flecks stared back at him with slitted pupils like a snakes, framed by purple tint indicating the natural chakra that has permanently seated itself within his forcefully developed chakra coils. The lightning bolt scar that always seemed to tingle was still there, but for the first time in seven years, it didn't bother him in the least. No prickling sensation bothered him, no sinister whispering in his ears, just silence.

'Today can't get any worse.' Was the only thought that continued to echo in Albus Dumbledores' mind. There was an emergency session with the Wizengamot earlier that day that lasted longer than any other in the past year. A few recent graduates from Hogwarts had been out and about in Diagon Alley when a massive fight broke out between two families that had an outstanding blood feud and caught the unsuspecting victims in the crossfire.

The families of all of the graduates involved immediately clamored to the Ministry atrium and demanded a session to try the instigators to their fullest ability. Dumbledore was required to be at any and every meeting that had more than one-third of its members in attendance, so he was not there when Ms. Figg had begun screaming for him in his floo.

Despite ordering the woman to never tell anyone but him about young Harry, she immediately floo called the head of the DLME, Amelia Bones, to tell her of the happenings. Her kneezles began to hiss and sputter as they disappeared to goodness knows where, something the woman had never seen in her long life. Through the window she spied Vernon drag Harry from privet drive number four and shove the boy into his trunk. Three hours later and the man returned a sweaty mess, screaming for his family to get into his car. They all left soon after with just the clothes on their back and have yet to return home.

The many trinkets that monitored the condition of the wards placed around privet drive four indicated that none of the magick used to protect and hide the boy existed any longer. Dumbledore could only stare in horror when he finally returned to his office, immediately coming to the only conclusion he could. Harry must have been murdered by his uncle; there was no way the blood magicks used on Harry would dissipate any other way as far as the old man knew. Auror's had already begun to scour the area under strong disillusionment charms, not wanting to scare the muggle population and need to send in the obliviators.

The strongest reading of magic in the house was the cupboard under the stairs where, to the outrage of all Ministry officials present, shone a grim light on the situation Harry had suffered at the hands of his family. Blood and other bodily fluids stained the area under the stairs, the blood containing a massive amount of magical presence in it. Already the news had reached the magical population hidden deep within the bowls of London and all abroad. Dumbledore was left grasping for straws as his public image plummeted to an all-time low due to his hand in placing Harry among the muggles. Purebloods were calling for his head while the rest were bellowing for his blood. If not for the many favors owed to him he would be without any position in the government or Hogwarts.

The Tyrant of the light was nursing a tall glass of Fire Whiskey when the sound of his gargoyle being melted to slag brought him from his drunken revere. Minerva McGonagall stormed into his office before he could so much as draw his want to put up a privacy charm and began to tear into him. "YOU SWORE, ALBUS!" The enraged woman screamed, holding the tip of her wand just an inch from his right eye. "You swore Harry would be alright with those… those terrible MONSTERS!" Minerva spat with venom dripping from her voice.

Dumbledore shrank back slightly to cover the action of him drawing the primordial wand in his possession. He prepared himself for any sudden attack, though he doubted his long-time friend and comrade would attack him. He was wrong. A silent shield casting later and he was holding back three tigers that had been transfigured from what was his fire whiskey. The fury in the woman's eyes was almost palpable to the man as he reversed the transfiguration with a wave of his hand.

"Minerva, please, calm yourself!" Albus strained out, dodging to the left as the woman banished glass shards at him as quickly as she could. A wave of his wand later and the Deputy Headmistress was bound by chains to the chair directly across from his desk, her wand floating calmly into his hands with a wandless disarming spell. "I could not have known what would befall young Harry at the hands of his family; it was the only option at the time!" Albus lied through his teeth, once again trying to salvage whatever he could of the disastrous discovery.

Ever since the man was young he had always gotten what he wanted. It was just after his sixth year that he met his first lover, Gellert Grindlewald. The dark duo had immediately begun to plan the takeover of the muggle world, wishing to subjugate the modern world to the wizards themselves. Together they coined the phrase 'for the greater good' and started their reign of terror. Albus had to leave Gellert after a few of the initial skirmishes, realizing that if he stood with Grindlewald, he too would fall.

Minerva didn't bother responding, instead glowering at the man as if her eyes could burn him. The ancient man reeled back at the look in her eyes, not having seen this kind of anger in her since her husband fought and died in the first war with Voldemort. The sound of quick footsteps cut off the woman when she opened her mouth to retort against the man.

"_**Tenebris Verbera!"**_

Severus Snape practically flew into the headmasters' office, a whip of phantasmal darkness flinging itself from his wand at the seated headmaster. Albus quickly slashed his wand downwards, the heavy fortress spell springing to life around him. It was a spell dating back to the seventeenth century, created by a man of the name Cornelius Agrippa. The whip wraps itself around the glowing stone barrier that completely surrounded Dumbledore, only to dissipate when the manipulative coot waved his hand and banished it with a burst of light magick.

"Severus, you are one step away from dying a very, very painful death!" Albus snapped, his grandfatherly visage finally snapping after the world flipped itself upside down on him. "I have been dealing with complete FOOLS all day; do not be one of them!"

Snape stared at the man with piercing eyes, his wand held in a tight dueling stance just three inches from his face. "You told me that Lily's son would be safe." The potions master snarled, his normally cool visage becoming dust in the wind. Minerva winced from her position in the chair, still trying to come to terms with her Godson's death. With speed not seen in the man since his youth, Dumbledore sent two over powered reductor curses at Severus and Minerva, both of them soon falling into unconsciousness.

The lord of light sighed deeply as he rose from his seat, his wand glowing with power as he charged mental based magick into it. These two would no longer be causing him trouble, and by controlling these two, he could surely restore his reputation to what it should be. It was for the greater good, after all.

=+FoStA+=

A week passed in a blur to Harry, the boy having kept himself busy with restoring the sprawling abandoned complex to its former glory. The first day was spent mostly exploring the expansive area, most of it in good enough shape to be saved without much effort on the boy's part at all. The water tower had been emptied out after the death of all of the residence by the city of Epsom but it mattered little to the reborn soul. An aguamenti spell easily handled the need for water, but food was a completely separate issue in and of itself.

It was only due to Orochimaru's knowledge of wilderness survival that Harry was able to trap a few rabbits and squirrels in a snare, providing more meat for him than he had ever had in his seven years. The foliage of the Shinobi world and Earth proved to be identical to the young man's great relief, allowing him to forage through the dense woodlands that surrounded his lightly warded complex. Fireweed and Purslane grew in abundance in the woods as well as the Plantago plant and sheep sorrel which allowed Harry to have a slightly diverse diet.

The second and third days were spend repairing the chapel and using Permanent Transfiguration charms to construct a sleeping and cooking area to the best of his ability. It was with sadness that Harry realized that until he had a wand, most of his magic is going to be wasted due to lack of control as well as the fact that his magical core was not even close to maturity. After deciding to only use his magic when chakra couldn't get the job done, the boy-who-lived began to train in chakra control and familiarize his body with the techniques he would later in life be famous for.

Unlike Orochimaru, Harry's body would not produce the non-aligned chakra that most humans in the Elemental Nations did due to the massive amount of syphoned sage chakra present in the fusion. Techniques that were energy intensive came to Harry easily, but the finer control was beyond his ability until his body continued to mature and settle. The Henge and Kawarimi techniques came easily enough, but the Bunshin skill continued to elude the boy. Clones made of earth and chakra, however, were easy enough to cast for the boy, cutting down on the cleaning and maintenance of the place exponentially.

By the fourth day the Chapel had been completely converted into something reminisce of a Daimyo's palace thanks to the discovery of Kage Bunshin no Jutsu, even if he could only summon ten of the clones before feeling the strain on his network. Harry continued to train his chakra control to the best of his ability though he continued to struggle with the leaf floating exercise. Left over lab equipment from the four hospital blocks were hauled into one of the rooms parallel to the main room of the renewed chapel and cleaned thoroughly so that the medical equipment would be ready for use.

It was on the fifth day that Harry made the most shocking discovery of all when he attempted to remove the altar from the Sanctuary, the holy item having completely resisted all forms of magical manipulation. Due to the nature of most exploding seals, they are not written in blood for the distinct reason of not destroying the user by misfire due to the chakra that completely saturates the blood if the coils are large enough, especially so if you are using sage chakra in any way, shape or form. Orochimaru was not one who studied the finer aspects of creating explosive seals, however, so the young boy who inherited his memories was not aware of that little detail.

It took thirty minutes and cursing in multiple languages before Harry was able to complete the rudimentary seal, having completely screwed it up after tripping up over the slightly warped flooring. After promising himself to completely transfigure the whole grounds of the place, he started pushing chakra through the seal and was almost stricken blind and deaf by the explosion.

Harry brought his hands up to block his face from most of the shrapnel, a few slivers of wood embedding themselves deep into his arm. Cursing the altar even more than he was earlier, the wounded boy slowly lowered his bloody arms and looked at the damage caused by the explosion with a disbelieving expression. A set of stairs lay beneath where the altar once stood leading deep into the earth, torches with pale green flames tracing the walls all the way down. With a small wave of his hand he configured a kunai knife from a piece of shrapnel, pushing enough magic into it to sustain it for hours. "It never hurts to be prepared, so they say." Harry murmured to himself, squatting down slightly to get a better look into what the explosive seal revealed.

The son of Lily stared into the darkness with slight trepidation before channeling a slight amount of chakra to his eyes in hopes of enhancing his vision. The darkness that shrouded the steps disappeared into a world of grey and white. Harry paused slightly before deciding to think about it later, stepping down into the corridor with the kunai knife hanging precariously in his grip.

The descent into the chakra highlighted depths gave the young would-be wizard little pause, his eyes easily piercing through the encompassing shadows. The further he descended the more he wanted to turn around, a strange coldness permeating the air. Finally, after a great distance down into the earth, the corridor began to change little by little. Once grey cobblestone was replaced by something much darker in color when the curious young man came into a dome shaped room where the walls and pillars that surrounded a pedestal in the middle of the room turned pitch black.

Torches with ominously green flames adorned the wall every few feet, casting ghostly shadows that would have been more intimidating if his eyes couldn't see in extremely low light. A trench surrounded the pedestal in the middle of the dome, ebbing and churning a strange black liquid that Harry was unsure of as to what it was. Masks of porcelain and bone hung from each pillar, a monument to whatever group of people had at one point donned them. A single bridge crossed the easily ten foot trench filled with the mysterious liquid, though the bridge looked to be made of old wood as opposed to black stone like the rest of the room.

"You know, normally people would want to walk away from places like this but sure, ill bite." Harry mused as he walked across the bridge quickly. As he approached the podium the ebon haired boy spied a large piece of jewelry that looked to be made purely of emerald. Harry thought hard as to where he had seen something similar as he pondered on the many magical objects Voldemort had ever gotten his hands on. Harry began to cast the few diagnostic charms he dared to use with his unstable core wandlessly, lacking the finesse for some of the finer, or darker, appraisal and diagnostic spells.

'Definitely some old magic at work here, it almost feels like… a wand should! This is an armlet!' Harry realized, Voldemort had only come across one capable of channeling magic. The priceless artifact having been made out of mythril, an ore only the ancient dwarves knew how to smelt and forge, and it was easily worth more than the Ministry itself! "Now why would someone leave this just lying around, hmm?" He asked himself, gleeful that such a wonderful piece of equipment was at his fingertips.

The diagnostic charm came back with a dire warning, breaking Harry from his musing. 'Seems like some powerful stuff, that is. A severing enchantment to remove the arms of someone not of a certain bloodline… What family would leave an heirloom locked away beneath an old Chapel?'

Harry finally decided to leave the artifact where it was and not risk losing an arm over something as careless as pillaging heirlooms. After finally making his way out of the darkened depths and cutting the flow of chakra to his eyes due to almost being blinded, the boy used what little earth manipulation he could and sealed the stairwell in, though he left a small seal with his chakra in it so he could locate the exact entrance later. Harry made due with his promise to himself and began to transfigure the old wood flooring into a smooth stone surface and a layer of green floor rugs over that.

Days six and seven were spent on familiarizing himself with the memories of both Voldemort and Orochimaru, hoping that the more he studied them over, the easier they would come to him when a situation called for certain skills and experience. It was only when Harry began to go over Toms memories of followers that he discovered something that made his skin crawl. A few certain death eaters were held under the imperious curse, which enslaves those who have the spell cast on them to an extent. If a person already under the spell has the same spell cast over them with identical orders, Voldemort discovered that the person had no choice to obey, as their will power no longer existed like it would have if only under the influence of a single casting.

Making sure to take note of those under the influence of Imperious and those who deserved his full wrath, Harry began to plan. Well into the seventh day he was planning out the course of action he should take now that he familiarized himself with the basics of the wizardry world. Harry decided not to make his appearance into the magical world until he was ten years of age, long enough to expand his base of operations and recruit people to his cause, whatever it may be. Dumbledore had manipulated Tom into becoming what he was today, and Harry wanted to be damn sure he was ready to make the old man keep his distance. 'I may be too weak right now, but come my tenth birthday and I doubt there would be a force short of a Biju that can stop me.'

As the saying goes, Pride comes before the fall.


	2. Setting the gears in motion

From one Snake to Another

Chapter 2, setting the gears in motion

I do not own ANYTHING related to either Naruto or Harry Potter.

A/N: A huge thanks to Ranmaleopard, terfa, kkarthik9, PCheshire and Gekasia Kidd for bothering to review this story, it makes me VERY happy! To answer a question asked, Harry will NOT be making a surprise visit in the Elemental Nations, the only time the two dimensions would come together is if another one in infinity conglomeration of a TON of different variables. However, Harry will use Orochimaru's knowledge to its fullest advantage, such as knowing how to construct his own hidden village. Voldemorts abilities at warding will only make it that much more secure, considering the only Shinobi to grace the magic world will be allies of Harrys…. Maybe.

=+FoStA+=

Dark clouds hung over Diagon Alley, blotting out the sun and casting a shade of melancholy over the many gathered for the first Vigil held in decades. Droves of witches and wizards from the greater European area flocked to the English area after the news of Harry Potters death reached far and wide.

Those ranging from the victims of the first war to the children who idolized the Boy-who-Lived gathered around a large statue that was erected on July 30th, the final birthday gift that the wizardry world would be able to give him. Carved from pure marble was the visage of James and Lily Potter, holding a baby Harry aloft between them.

Albus Dumbledore stood off to the side as he observed the crowds laying flowers and small tokens on the small coffin that lay before the statue. They were never able to 'recover' the body as Vernon and his family completely disappeared, the tormentors never returned to privet drive four to retrieve their belongings.

In hopes of regaining at least SOME of his public image, Albus had donated the many galleons needed to procure the large block of marble as well as the coffin made of ivory wood. Though, the money really wasn't his at all, it was the late Potter families that he had manipulated into making him their final benefactor. With Harry dead, the decrepit headmaster drained their accounts dry and moved the physical objects into his own private vaults beneath Hogwarts.

Even as the rain began to fall, the crowds of downtrodden folks refused to leave the Alley. Every shop had closed early so that the owners may attend the public service in honor of the fallen Potter family. The current Minister for Magic, Millicent Bagnold stood and watched as the heart broken public poured their love and sorrow unto the Idol, her eyes too leaking liquid anguish.

The entire magical population of England was enraptured by the young boy who saved them from the most destructive dark lord they ever had the displeasure of experiencing, and Millicent was no exception.

Her days as Minister were numbered; there was no doubt about it. Albus Dumbledore was not the only political figure to have the finger pointed into their eyes, even if she WAS the one who approved of sealing away the potters will, allowing for Sirius Black to be held in Azkaban without trail, and worst of all, she allowed Albus to place the boy in the abusive household. The two candidates currently running for election, even if she was still in office, were Cornelius Fudge and Amelia Bones.

If Fudge took office, Millicent knew the Magical world was doomed. The man's hand was far too deep in Lucius's coffers for him to be anything but a crooked politician. Though, when she thought about it, she herself was no better. She WAS in the pocket of Albus Dumbledore, after all. She decided a week ago that while the crowd was in attendance to this melancholic day, she would come clean with her corruption and only hope that one day her ancestors would forgive her for the atrocities she let slide.

A figure slinked along the outside of traffic, steadily walking towards the entrance to Knockturn Alley with a quick gait. His cloak was something truly curious to the few wizards who looked up from their downcast gazes, colored black with crimson clouds decorating it.

The style of cloak was something that no other magic practitioner had ever seen before, but not daring to assume the man was a muggleborn. The styles worn by those of 'muddied' birth and those of 'purity' were drastically different due to different raisings, and nothing about this man screamed muggleborn.

After a few moments of walking, the figure lifted his gaze and stared out with unnaturally crimson eyes, taking in the details of the area in complete silence. After a few moments of deliberation, he ducked into a signless shop located in between Cobb & Webb's and another Unnamed building that was common in this shady area.

The cloaked man strode up to the counter with a quickness and knocked on the counter three times, paused for a second, and then knocked two more times in a strange rhythm that any who over heard it would be odd pressed to duplicate. A low murmuring came from behind a thick purple curtain that hid the back room of the low quality building from view.

A young woman parted the curtains slowly, her eyes the color of hazel and hair as black as night. Fine woven robes adorned her lithe frame, surely enchanted with the way the magic was slowly rolling off of her. "How may I help you, Sir?" The woman asked with a thick Albanian accent.

"I wish to browse your… used wand selection." The cloaked man finally drawled, looking around the room as if completely disinterested by her presence. The Russian quickly left and returned with a wooden box carried beneath her arm. "These are the best we have, Sir, recently procured from… well, they aren't here to tell you their names, needless to say."

The seven wands the woman brought back were in almost flawless condition, though a few had small chips and cracks near the tips and two with them in the base. The man finally grabbed the wand two from the furthest right, the only one there that was dark black and larger and ten inches.

"That particular wand is something a bit special as far as wands go. It belonged to a very, very, VERY dark wizard who passed away a few years ago, terrible accident that was. Ebony wood, Runespores' three tongue's for a core, 12 inches. It's a solid wand but every person who attempted to get the thing to work ended up stunning themselves with it."

With a flick of his wrist, a very large amount of green and golden sparks shot from the tip of the illicitly acquired wand, only three or four red sparks showing up in the mix. The wand seemed to hiss in contentment before the rush of magic reached Harry, shocking him at how strong of a pull the wand had. A smile broke the figures cold visage only for a moment before he schooled himself into his usually cold and calm complexion. "How much will this be, Lady?"

If the woman was offended by the slight insult she didn't let it show, "Eight galleons."

The cloaked man stared at her before shaking his head in a negative expression. "I don't think so. The most I will pay is five. Do I need to remind you who I work for…?" he asked, brandishing his left forearm where the dark mark of Voldemorts inner circle lay bare. The woman gasped before shirking back away from the man as if burned.

The cloaked figure chuckled lowly before tossing five golden coins on the counter and left far quicker than he had arrived. The woman of Caucasian descent disappeared back through the curtain, screaming for her father to pack his bags. Years down the road, Voldemort would try to contact his arms dealers only to discover that they had fled the country many years prior to his return. Untold amount of agony was sure to be shared evenly amongst his followers thanks to the news.

=+FoStA+=

Three months on his own and Harry could honestly say he was in better shape now than he had ever been and likely would have ever been had he remained with the Dursleys. The four sprawling complexes that were abandoned due to events which still eluded him now had muggle repelling, notice-me-not and fear inducing wards anchored down to four different obelisks the young hero created using very skillful earth manipulation. While he was not able to cast the most technical of the wards he knew, those three had done well enough when he did not have a wand.

Two of the four hospitals were currently being renovated into separate strongholds capable of holding off a long term siege with ease. The uptake to fixing the place up was a long and arduous process for the boy, having only three months so far to familiarize himself with the knowledge necessary for such a large undertaking. One of the Hospitals had been completely restored into a working Laboratory and healing center, though he did not have an immediate need for either of them at the moment.

Large tunnels were dug out from under the two buildings, leading to different entrance and escape routes that were miles and miles away from Asylum One as Harry decided to name his base, despite the usually negative opinion of such buildings. Each entrance had a seal on it that would only open up if any type of chakra was pushed through it, a skill that only a single person in the world had as one now.

The use of Earth techniques came easiest to the boy, though water manipulation was a very close second. After hours and hours of training and using Kage Bunshin to speed the process up whenever possible, Harry could safely say that he was low Chuunin in terms of skill with the Doton style and high Gennin in Suiton.

Harry had discovered after one month in to his training that his transformation technique was not at all like the one Orochimaru used. Instead of just a cloud of chakra surrounding him in an illusion, the technique would literally become a physical transformation like what a metamorphagus would perform. After pondering on the revelation for hours, the fair skinned youth came to the conclusion that it was due to the very dense spiritual chakra that lingered in his coils.

The toad sages of Mount Myoboku learned to harness the sage techniques by balancing the natural energy they absorbed using mostly their physical energy and using their spiritual energy to compensate. The White Snake Sage of Ryuchi cave, however, taught Orochimaru to use Senjutsu in the complete opposite way. Though Orochimaru knew how to use the energy of the world, his body switching technique did not allow him to make use of the knowledge to its fullest effect.

As opposed to gathering the chakra within his body like one would do normally, the Cursed Seals that the white snake passed out like candy were used to gather the chakra without any outside influence of the sealed and use said chakra to power their cursed seals second stage. Each and every one of his bodies was branded with the cursed seal so that even if it was a minute amount, there was enough to give him a permanent sage mode.

Harry, however, was not branded with a cursed seal. He had something much better, in fact, the ability to produce the spiritually thick energy as others would produce non-aligned chakra. Genjutsu techniques and those requiring great control were a breeze to the boy now, his control over the potent energy reaching the high jounin category.

After a month of solitude, the young sage would wander out into the town of Epsom for four days out of the week. After pickpocketing an unsuspecting man, Harry dipped down into an alley to get a good look at the current muggle currency. Luckily for Harry he discovered a few hundred pound notes in the wallet, which the boy studied thoroughly before permanently conjuring himself as many of the notes as he could. Due to the fact that they were conjured, the goblins in the wizardry world would not take the money to transfer them into galleons, but that didn't mean that the muggle world wouldn't.

The estranged Potter 'washed' a few hundred dollars by visiting a few different locations and purchasing only small amounts of items per transaction. For weeks he would don different disguises and shop around town, getting a feel for the town and finding some of the 'seedier' areas and people so he could eventually start up small time connections. It was the third week of June when The Derby was held that Harry's monetary situation became a moot point. With a transformation in place and a conjured ID, the now black haired 'man' was able to place a massive bet for a large black stallion that caught his eye.

Though shinobi were not able to manipulate gravity without the Rinnegan, Harry did not have that limitation thanks to his knowledge of magic. It was three quarters through the race before the boy made his move, sending a small concussive force at the legs of the chestnut colored horse directly behind the one he placed his bets on. The jockey was flung from the chestnut horses back as it went down, the man slamming into the horse that was beside him and soon only the Ebony horse that Harry bet upon was the only one left standing.

The disguised boy left The Derby over one million pounds richer due to the overwhelming defeat of the competition, most men and women walking away from the annual race with an extremely sour face. Disillusioned Kage Bunshin scoured the crowd and looted the unsuspecting civilians as Harry made his way back to The Asylum.

"It's like taking candy from a babe." The Potter chuckled as he took stock of the many things acquired by his invisible squad of duplicates. Dozens of jeweled rings were sealed away into one of the storage seals Harry permanently Tattooed into his left arm while the money was sealed within his right. The only survivor of the killing curse set course for The Leaky Cauldron once he was sure that he had enough to start an account with the Goblins under guise of Uchiha Itachi, whom Harry had grown to admire after reviewing how the man fought thanks to his confrontation with Orochimaru on multiple occasions.

=+FoStA+=

The Goblins practically fell over themselves to set up the boy's account, not having seen such a large deposit in muggle money in almost a hundred years. After milling Harry into a backroom away from prying eyes, a smartly dressed Goblin spoke up and offered him one of their more… 'Special Services'. For a fee, Harry was able to get a completely forged Identity for both the muggle and magical worlds after lying through his teeth and saying that he came from a backwater magical community based out of Japan that was usually far removed from the rest of the world.

During World War Two, Japan was devastated after America dropped bombs of terrifying power over Nagasaki and Hiroshima. The muggle Japan was unaware of the great travesty in the magical side of their nation, close to fifty thousand people were removed from the world without a clue as to why or how they died.

After the war, the magical capital of Japan, Kyoto, announced to the rest of the nonmundane world that they would be completely withdrawing from the world to repair and recover from the travesty. The mere fact that Harry was extremely fluent in Japan's native tongue was just icing on the cake as far as the Goblins were concerned.

The small statured bankers ate up his story with a smile on their face, most likely knowing he was lying through his teeth but didn't bother calling him out on it. Uchiha Itachi of the Akatsuki clan was his name while henge'd in his current form as far as the world was concerned. No form of Mage Sight that any wizard knew was capable of seeing through his transformation as the very nature of his chakra was on a completely different 'frequency' than any magic was.

It was a guise Harry could easily keep up due to Orochimaru having worked with the teenager for years before attempting to steal his body. Harry shuddered at the thought of stealing other peoples bodies, but Itachi wasn't here to stop him from 'borrowing' his face, so the child eventually let it go.

After a tiring day of dealing with the money hungry creatures and a copious amount of blood to tie to the official Akatsuki clan vault, Harry started his trek through the very crowded streets of Diagon Alley and its many outlets that branched from the magically expanded shopping district. It was one day away from his Eighth birthday and he wanted to spend it at his reclaimed home in the Chapel, not dealing with muggles or magicals.

After overhearing a particularly loud conversation between two sobbing women, Harry had to brace himself against a wall and collect his thoughts. 'Apparently the magic world thinks I'm dead… Just why do they think that?'

The son of Lily reached out and grabbed the arm of a man who was walking by at a sedated pace, holding a finger to his lips as he pulled the man slightly closer to him. "Tell me everything you know about Harry Potter and I will pay you generously."

The man stared at Harry incredulously for a second before snorting, "The boy defeated you-know-who around eight years ago and ended the war before he was able to even talk. However, apparently he couldn't even survive filthy muggles!" The man spat the word muggle with more venom than Harry had ever seen in his uncle, though it was not without surprise as Vernon had the emotional capacity of a flobberworm.

"His so called 'uncle' offed the boy and hid the body somewhere, a squib from across the way from where he lived reported it to the DMLE after witnessing that monster dragging the Boy-Who-Lived from his home bloodied and beaten."

Harry nodded slowly before placing a pouch with twenty galleons into the man's hands and shoving him forward into the milling traffic of the saddened alley. "So I'm dead, hmm?" He pondered as the bewildered man disappeared into the crowd twenty galleons richer than he was by happenstance.

The young parseltongue slipped into Knockturn Alley at a much quicker than normal pace, knowing that he only had a small amount of time to procure his illicit goods in peace while most of the population was busy either morning or celebrating his so called death. 'Now just why did a squib live across the street from my previous place of residence? Was there someone watching me this whole time? Someone actually NOTICED the beatings and only reported them to the authorities when they assumed I was DEAD?!'

Harry decided to think on the subject later, not wanting to lose his cool in Knockturn where the denizens of the corrupt shopping area would jump on any weakness present. Assassins and muggers roamed the streets of the dark alley, but today seemed to be the exception. 'They must be lingering with the crowds. Smart thinking, with so many people present they wouldn't think twice about being 'accidently' bumped into.' He thought to himself, trying to detract from the thoughts of being spied on his entire life.

Before entering an unnamed building, he cast another transformation over his left arm to give the illusion of him having the dark mark branded there. Procurement of a wand that was a surprisingly good match for the boy was as easy as flaunting his 'position' in Voldemorts circle, as was getting hundreds of different potion ingredients from a shady apothecary next door to Cobb and Webb's. The Hag that served him his ingredients identified herself as Helga Rorcshire which was a family who has had a long history with enchanted items of all sorts.

"For such a noble man, I could part with a cauldron capable of multiplying any potion brewed within it threefold, so that you get three potions per any single potion you create. For a price, of course." Helga smiled towards Harry, yellow and black teeth poking from between her shriveled lips in what looked more like a grimace than what she was aiming for.

"And what kind of price would you demand, woman?" Harry drawled in a low tone, perfectly mimicking the pitch and slur used by most of the pureblood aristocrats. 'I don't care what the price is; I have need of an item like this.' He thought to himself though he did not let his decision show on his face. The two bartered for closer to an hour before finally coming to a deal. She would part with two enchanted cauldrons, and Harry would leave her with over a thousand galleons and a good portion of his loot from The Derby.

=+FoStA+=

The 'Uchiha' had finally finished his shopping when the current Minister for Magic stepped up on a conjured stage around ten paces from the statue of his deceased parents and himself. The mourning citizens began to all approach the stage as Millicent Bagnold cast the Sonorous charm on herself.

"Thank you all for gathering here on this day of mourning. We lost a hero when Harry passed away, we truly did. And it is with heavy heart that I admit that it was a good deal my fault." The crowd gasped at the woman's proclamation while a few towards the back began to yell in outrage.

"I have made many, many great mistakes during my term as Minister, and I have failed not only you all, but myself. I was convinced by a manipulative old codger that placing the boy with his 'relatives' would be in his best interest, never mind also condemning Sirius Black to Azkaban without trail. I was too late to stop the Potter family vault from being emptied once his death certificate was signed." Millicent continued to ramble for a few minutes in near hysterics, most of her crimes laid bare before the now raging public.

Harry listened on with growing horror at Millicent's admissions, a cold anger at Dumbledore and the incompetent woman growing more and more and-

"_**Avada Kedavra!" "Bombarda Maxima!" "CRUCIO!"**_

Harry stomped his right foot the moment he felt the building magic, three domes of earth completely surrounding him to block four stray spells barreling at him before he sank into the ground using the 'hiding like a mole' technique. Two Kage Bunshin spawned on the surface, one who dispelled immediately to inform Harry that the coast was clear and another to intercept four men in death eater regalia from attacking a woman he identified as Amelia Bones. Harry sprung from the earth behind the woman and flung three kunai coated in wind chakra at three more would be attackers. The boy acted quick and attempted to side apparated the woman away but Anti-Apparition wards were already placed a mile wide around the entire alley.

The Shinobi cursed before summoning more Shadow Clones completely decked out in ANBU gear without so much as a whisp of smoke or a pop. A massive group of fifty death eaters stormed the area around Harry and the shocked head of the DMLE, neither of them expecting to see such a large chunk of Voldemorts army with the Dark Lord 'dead'.

The dark wizards seemed to stumble a bit and back away from the fifteen clones as they seemingly phased into existence out of nowhere considering the Anti-Apparition wards which befuddling the terrorists as to where the figures came from.

Five of the ANBU clones began rushing through handseals beneath their cloaks before spitting out razor sharp blades of wind from their mouths, mowing down a group of three that were too close together. One the final body hit the ground; the large force sprang into action and began to send attacks towards the savior of the magical world. Harry shook the stunned woman in his arms slightly before she began to pull herself out of her daze.

The ten clones began to grab as many civilians as possible and get them out of the battlefield, using the doruheki skill to create twenty foot tall walls to hide the innocent passersby. One clone stood at the top of the wall and began to signal out to the rest of the clone regiment orders via handseals used by the Ne forces of Konoha.

While Kage Bunshin in mass amounts like the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki was famous for was a bit beyond Harry's abilities, but the density of his Chakra and its heavy spiritual alignment allowed him to summon more precision than Orochimaru would have been able to in his prime.

More and more clones jumped into the crowd of death eaters and detonated themselves into large spheres of wind blades with extreme prejudice after making sure that no innocent civilian would get caught in the deadly attacks.

Amelia stepped away from Harry and began to send over powered stunners and transfigurations into the fray while the dozens of ANBU began using any Jutsu they could think of. Tigers roared to life from rubble surrounded a large group of downed dark wizards, not letting them flee the scene of the crime before they can be apprehended. A few carefully aimed spells and Amelia turned the tides of the battle completely in their favor. A handful of clones started using collaboration techniques on Suiton and Raiton attacks, electrified water bullets drilled into the Death Eaters left and right.

While not fatal, the disguised dark wizards and witches passed out due to the pain of having their ribs broken and being electrocuted simultaneously. Earthen snakes sprung from the ground and sank their stone fangs deep into nerve clusters of a few of the attacking force, paralyzing them in place without harming them more so than necessary.

When an ANBU with a snake mask signaled to him of incoming red robed figures, Harry dispelled the clones and pulled his illegally purchased wand from his robes. A few more stunners for show and the boy was confident he could POSSIBLY get away without revealing anything.

Auror forces finally arrived on the scene by broomstick, raining down spellfire on the surprised and thoroughly embarrassed array of dark followers. Within ten minutes of fighting and incapacitating, 49 dead or incapacitated magicals lay at the feet of the law enforcement.

Harry had one of the ANBU clones procure an unconscious man for interrogation, the death eater and clone being under the meseigakure technique that Jiraiya taught Orochimaru in an attempt to get the Snake Sannin to help him peep on their teammate Tsunade when they were still Gennin.

The death count of the surprise attack was drastic, over fifty muggleborn having been caught by the first volley of terrible magic. Millicent Bagnold was killed within five minutes of the conflict, her guards killed by two hooded figures that drifted out of the alley directly behind them with glistening silver daggers of ornate design. Dumbledore fled the scene after checking over the body of the dead Minister with an oddly designed wand that caught Harry's eye. 'Now why is that wand so familiar…?'

Amelia returned to Harry's side after speaking to the dark skinned Auror who introduced himself as Kingsley Shacklebolt. "I don't know who you are, but thank you for not only saving my life, but watching my back while I was… distracted." The head of the DMLE finally spoke up, ashamed of herself for locking up like a green deputy in their first major battle.

More than one Auror approached the disguised man, asking him questions about the attacks used and some in an attempt to bring him in for questioning. Madam Bones quickly put an end to that and sent the frantic law enforcers away with a wave of her hand and a shout. Screams and wailing barely reached Harry's ears over the rushing blood in his ears; nothing around him made sense for more than a few minutes.

Amelia watched in slight fascination as the strangely clothed man schooled his features back into an emotionless mask, his baleful eyes with three comma's decorating the pupil staring deep into her own. Harry did not dare use a Legilimency probe to glean knowledge from the woman's mind due to the fact that she was most likely an avid practitioner of Occlumency like himself. "It has been a long day, Mr…?"

"Uchiha Itachi of the Akatsuki Clan, it's a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Bones." The disguised Harry said, sticking his hand out for her to shake. She chuckled at the muggle form of greeting before taking his hand in her own and shaking it vigorously.

Harry almost grimaced from the jarring motion but did not dare comment on it. "Who were those men… what were those attacks and where did they go?" The slightly shaken woman began to fire out question after question only for Harry to raise his hand to calm her.

"I'm not sure myself. I don't recall ever having seen magic quite like theirs." Harry lied through his teeth after sending out a slight confundus charm wandlessly to muddy the sharp woman's thoughts slightly. Not enough for her to take notice, but even the slightest bit of the charm thrown into the mix does the trick. He began to show signs of exhaustion in hopes that the woman would give up questioning him further so he could get away before she connected the dots.

"A-alright, of course. I'm terribly sorry about that, really, it's just… the first war really took its toll on all of us." Amelia murmured out while adjusting her monocle sheepishly. Kingsley watched the interaction between the head of his department and the mysterious man that risked his neck to save her if what they were saying was any indication.

After exchanging a few more pleasantries with the woman and assuring her that he would send a representative of his clan to speak with her, Harry was finally able to escape from Diagon Alley with more questions floating through his head than he cared to find the answer for. With the revelations Millicent was able to spout in the time before her death, Harry was sure now more than ever it was high time he put his start the first of his many future undertakings. "It's time for a jail break."

=+FoStA+=

Once again Albus Dumbledore sat in his office with a frown scarring his grandfatherly image. Millicent was able to say far too much before he killed her after having two of his men deal with her body guards in the confusion of the attack. The 'Death Eater' attack was his brainchild of the week, hoping that he could off two large thorns in his side at once.

Under a particularly strong imperious curse, Severus Snape was forced to gather as many death eaters as he could over the past few weeks, claiming that they needed to be ready to strike down the Minister in the name of their soon to be returned Dark Lord.

Snape attempted to resist the imperious curse long enough to let the late Bagshot spill her guts to the crowd of belligerent citizens from around the magical world, each having felt the wrath of Voldemort in one way or another. The plan was perfect, Millicent and her guards were to go down in the first attack, and Amelia to be later overwhelmed.

Albus had pulled many strings to finally get most of the Auror forces far away from the town square under false claims of mass attacks in the mundane world where in fact, the attack was to take place in the heart of London itself. The scheming lord of the light had no idea that such beings existed under his very nose, using magic capable of crushing a large force of violent militants with practiced ease.

A unit such as that, one that could come and go without a trace and cause that much devastation was sure to have come from somewhere, but as to who or what they were was still a mystery to him. Of the fifty men and women at Tom Riddle's fingertips, only twenty were alive to tell the tale. Some were sliced into hundreds of chunks, others were impaled with kunai knives, some electrocuted, and the list goes on.

The fact that a kunai knife of all things was present told Dumbles that Japan was somehow involved, but last he heard they had completely withdrawn from the world with a magic curtain so strong that Russia would be jealous.

After attempting to contact Severus for multiple hours with no response, Dumbledore came to the conclusion that he was one of the many so completely eviscerated by the powerful attacks that his body couldn't be identified even by magical means.

Minerva was in her office going over the many Transfiguration essays that she had been putting off due to Albus's manipulations, her mind completely befuddled thanks to the imperious she too was placed under.

Professor Flitwick was growing entirely too suspicious for the headmasters likings, but did not dare attempt to place the goblin descended wizard under his thrall. Goblins were completely resistant to both the imperious and the cruciatus curses thanks to their physiological and magical makeup being completely different than that of a human.

Rumors had already started circulating around that it was almost a sure thing for Amelia Bones getting the position of Minster, which threw a massive monkey wrench into his multi-layered plot to maintain control of the magical world. Another shot of fire whiskey down the hatch and Albus was ready to call it a night. The next few days were going to test the patience of many different people, him included.


	3. Back in Black-The Price of Freedom

From one Snake to Another

Chapter 3, Back in Black/The Price of Freedom

I do not own ANYTHING related to either Naruto or Harry Potter. Period.

To answer a few questions; Harry WILL be gaining a few summons, but they will be much like Manda2 in the manga, which was created by Kabuto if I recall correctly. If KABUTO can make summons, then HARRY can make summons. It's just icing on the cake that Harry has a much larger base of snakes and reptiles to work with, not to mention the extreme advances in technology and science the real world has compared to the Elemental Nations. Harry will be able to communicate with ANY reptile, not just snakes, including the magical variety. There might be a few surprise appearances from characters from other series, but they will not be a major character as far as story development goes.

=+FoStA+=

Amelia Bones was a woman of many talents as some of her classmates would say. She was diligent, had a strong back and wasn't afraid of squaring up with someone if push came to shove, but dealing with a heart broken ex prisoner was not something she had experience with.

Sirius Black was given the trial by Veritaserum he deserved after Amelia was accepted as the Minister for Magic just two weeks after the 'Potter's Day Massacre' as the solemn people of magical England called it. The man was compensated heavily for his wrongful incarceration, but all of the money in the world wouldn't bring the only living remnant of James and Lily back to life.

Murdered by muggles is not something many Magicals could grasp, even the Muggleborn were outraged at the travesty, but none so as much as Sirius. Sirius had sworn to himself then and there that he would hunt down and slaughter the monsters responsible for killing his godson, it was the least he could do to put his demons to rest.

"Sirius please let me be the first to offer you my condolences… We have done all we can do for you. Albus Dumbledore has his influence in countries all over the world and holds many high positions of power." Amelia finally broke the silence after Sirius eyeballed her for longer than five minutes without speaking.

The Head of Black scoffed before looking away, mumbling obscenities under his breath in multiple different languages. "Albus too-many-fucking-names Dumbledore will get his. I don't care WHAT positions he has, the man will pay for this."

Amelia simply occupied her hands and pretended she was not paying attention while Sirius continued to rage, plausible deniability and all of that. Sirius finally ended his tirade with a deep sigh, slouching back further in his chair as if it could swallow him whole.

The ex-Azkaban inmate looked too far beyond his years for Amelia's liking. During the first war, Sirius was one of her squad mates after they graduated from Hogwarts and finished Auror Academy. They were very close and had a blooming relationship, but Amelia was fooled into believing the man responsible for betraying the Potters and killing those muggles.

It was Peter Pettigrew who was the secret keeper, Peter who slaughtered those innocent people and framed his long-time friend for everything. Madam Bones truly felt terrible about the whole situation and could only hope the make amends with the broken man.

A knock at the door broke the two from their conversation abruptly, the Ministers secretary poking her head in the door. "Ma'am, there is a… 'Uchiha Itachi' here to see you. Should I send him away?" Amelia shot from her seat and ushered the strange cloaked man in, her secretary having been brushed aside by Harry when he entered the room.

"I'm sorry for interrupting your meeting, Madam Bones, but I think it is for the best. Mister Black, I have someone who is _very_ interested in meeting you."

Sirius stared at the man long and hard, taking in his appearance and judging if he was trustworthy. A black cloak with strange red clouds and a high collar adorned his torso; black pants with white tape around the ankles were tucked into the weirdest sandals Sirius had ever seen on his life completed the strangers ensemble.

The man had long black hair tied into a ponytail and unnaturally crimson eyes that almost seemed predatory. Deep lines from either excessive frowning or stress ran from his inner eyes downwards, giving him a deadly and rememberable look about him.

'I never thought I would call a pair of eyes 'predatory', that's just weird!' Sirius thought to himself before shaking his head slightly. He rose from his slouched position in the chair and stood up finally. He wasn't quite recovered from Azkaban yet, but the potions provided to him to rejuvenate him were fantastic!

"Just who are you, and who wants to meet me?" Sirius finally spoke, his arms folded tightly across his chest. The man looked like a Dark Wizard for one thing, just the way he stood screamed dangerous. He didn't see any weapons on him, but he knew first hand at what assuming got you in the long run.

A stern look from Amelia caused the Black to finally loosen up. "This man saved my life two weeks ago. He comes from an expansive family that hails from… Japan, was it?" Amelia stated, looking back at the man for him to finish introducing himself.

The Minister and Itachi have already been in contact a few times since the attack, mostly for her to pick his brain for anything the mysterious man would give away and to award him the Merlin, Second Class for watching her back and protecting her from both the death eaters and the strange masked force.

"Yes, Japan is correct Madam Bones. My name is Uchiha Itachi of the Akatsuki clan, and I am here under orders from the leader of my clan to retrieve you, Mr. Black. He wishes to speak with you about the Blacks Businesses and investing in them if possible." Harry spoke up after a moment's pause. Harry had murmured Businesses as in plural on purpose, but if asked would say it was a slip of the tongue.

He didn't want to just discuss business with the man, but didn't dare reveal who he really was in front of the Minister. That would just be un-shinobi like of him. The child had been looking forward to meeting Sirius immensely after hearing he still had a godfather, one who was supposed to take him in and raise him as opposed to the Dursleys.

Sirius was startled at the mention of the Black Businesses. His grandfather Arcturus had created a smuggling ring back in 1962, dealing with illegal potions, potion ingredients and many other undesirable but necessary things needed for an underground operation like the Blacks had. The goblins didn't ask where the money came from and kept the ministry from prying into their business for a small fee.

The Head of the Most Honorable and Ancient House of Black nodded stiffly at this while Amelia looked on slightly confused. "I didn't know the Blacks had a family business, Sirius?"

Sirius sighed before shaking his head and waving his hand slightly. "It's not so much of a family business as it is a real estate company." That was the public cover at least. For this Uchiha Itachi to know what went on behind the scenes was extremely disturbing. Lily, James and even Remus had no clue as to what the Black scion did under the cover of his business.

Even as an Auror he was able to keep the business operating, mostly by supplying Albus Dumbledore with healing potions and ingredients the death eater families had under a stranglehold by importing them from the Colonies in America. It was thanks to Sirius that Dumbledork's order of the phoenix was able to stay afloat at the warfront.

Sirius made a major mistake when he signed over the rights for the old man to withdraw money directly from the Black vaults. There was absolutely nothing left for him save the money he had stashed at 12 Gimmauld Place. The two dark lords in England took everything from him. Albus Dumbledore stole his fortune, James, Lily and now Harry.

Voldemort was equally to blame, but after thinking on it, the twinkly eyed man had been the main orchestrator behind the entire war. All because of a half-baked prophecy from a woman deserving of a Mental Institutions immediate intervention!

Sirius finally nodded his head at Itachi and hugged Amelia before the two men Apparated away from the Ministers office. Madam Bones stared at where the two departed for a second feeling as if there was a silent conversation that just transpired and she had no idea what it could have been about. "Real Estate, huh?"

=+FoStA+=

Harry led Sirius into the chapel with a blank look on his face, though his mind was racing a mile a minute. 'How exactly does one tell another that they aren't dead without freaking them out?'

Sirius watched Itachi closely as they walked through Asylum one in silence. The Black Heir was surprised at the area the two were walking through, having not quite seen anything like it before. Massive Japanese Sakura tree's littered the courtyard that rested in between the four completely renovated buildings, giving the area a very foreign feel to the Englishman. "You know, I've never seen a tree like those before. What are they?" Sirius finally cracked and broke the silence, something that made Harry grin slightly.

"Sakura Tree's, grown by the Clan Head himself. There is a very special type of… magick running through them, you see. If anyone with hostile intent towards any who reside in these walls were to somehow get through the wards, the leaves of the tree would immediately seek out said person and shred them completely and without mercy. Within the next week, we hope to grow the final product. These are just… experiments, most of them have one flaw or another."

Sirius blanched and slowly widened his distance from the innocent looking tree's, causing Harry to chuckle to himself lowly. Sirius just pouted at the dark looking 'man', his arms crossed along his chest like a child.

'Everyone has to have a way to cope with what they have seen in their lives, I suppose.' Harry thought to himself while Sirius began to rant about killer trees and how nothing is ever innocent in the magical world. 'Understatement of the year, right there.'

The two reached the chapel a few more minutes after walking, where Harry told Sirius to wait in the main lobby while he reported to the leader of his 'family'. Once out of view, Harry dropped his disguise and took a deep breath.

Harry wore clothing similar to what Sasuke wore while under Orochimaru's tutelage, though the rope belt was colored green and the usual place for the Uchiha crest was replaced with an Akatsuki cloud. The Uwagi robe Harry wore was ebony black and threaded with the strongest barrier enchantments he could possibly cast with a still developing magical core. The cloth beneath the belt was the same as Sasuke's, but the pants were as black as the Uwagi robe. His hair was pulled back in a high ponytail with two long locks of hair framing his face, leaving his lightning bolt scar out in plain sight.

Sirius had his back turned when Harry entered the room, which was all good and well as far as he was concerned. "Sirius Black, we meet at last." Harry finally spoke and had to stifle a laugh as Sirius jump a few inches in surprise. The Black spun on his heels to face where the voice came from and froze.

"H-… Harry?!" Sirius managed to choke out upon seeing the lightning bolt scar, "This better not be a joke or there will be HELL to pay!" The man yelled as he took a step back away from the boy.

Harry took a step forward and drew his wand quickly which caused Sirius to draw his own. "Relax, Godfather, I'm going to prove it to you that I'm alive." The black haired boy blurted out upon seeing the wand being drawn.

"I, Harry James Potter, do solemnly swear on my life and magic that I am Sirius Black's Godson, The Son of James and Lily Potter, and am not dead. Anything I am about to tell Sirius is completely and absolutely true. So mote it be!" Harry intoned before a golden glow surrounded him. An unfamiliar weight seemed to set itself into his magical flow, indicating the Oath had taken effect. "Lumos!" Harry incanted in an even tone, a bright pulse of light erupting from the tip of his wand.

Sirius fell to his knee's as he watched his godson swear a magical oath, knowing that there was absolutely no way he could have lied about what he said. "How… They said you were dead!" Sirius shouted as tears rolled down his face. If Harry thought the man looked beyond his years before, the Black looked positively ancient now.

"You recall Halloween night all those years ago, correct?" Harry asked slowly causing Sirius to flinch as if struck. When Harry's godfather nodded his head, the boy continued on with his story.

"Before Voldemort, don't give me that look it's just an anagram, attacked my family that night, my mother did something that no other has been able to successfully achieve. She tied her magical core to mine and made me an… anchor, if you will, so that even if her physical body was to perish, she would still be bound to the mortal realm in a sense to protect me. Well, three and a half months ago Vernon gave me a rather nasty beating and abandoned me here in this very place. This is where my story gets a little… strange."

Sirius nodded his head for Harry to continue after processing the first part of the story, shocked that Lily would dabble in magicks like that. Something that could tie your magic and spirit to the physical plane when the body passed away is not something that could be considered 'light' at all.

"Well, when I pulled myself into the chapel here, a tear in time and space opened up right on top of me and pulled me into an attack that came from another dimension all together. Along with the rip in space came a chunk of someone's soul and the materials that once made up his body, including his chakra and memories. My theory is that the only reason I'm still alive to this day is due to the Blood Ritual my mother performed just before her death." Harry had to pause for a moment to take a deep breath before continuing.

"From a different plane of existence, she removed the souls of Voldemort and Orochimaru, but left me with their memories and a good few other gifts. Due to the magic and Chakra needed to completely rebuild my body and re-anchor my soul, Mom isn't around to protect me any longer. As odd as it sounds, Vernon abandoning me was the best thing to ever happen."

Sirius didn't reply at all to the final revelation, he just stared at Harry with a thousand yard gaze in his eyes. Harry shrugged his shoulders as if completely nonplussed about the whole situation. "Well of course you survived being pulled into a rip in space and time; you survived a killing curse at three months old!" Sirius finally said in an even tone, though the look in his eyes told Harry that Sirius was having a hard time coming to terms with what he said.

"So what is with the makeup, then?"

Harry stared at the man incredulously before a grin broke his face in half. "It marks my status as a Sage. Something I got from Orochimaru. A Sage is someone who is capable of harnessing the energy of nature itself, something my body produces by itself instead of me having to gather it and balance it with my chakra."

"And what exactly is this Cha-ki-ra or whatever you call it?" Sirius was terribly confused by now and had begun rubbing the back of his head. 'Why does it feel like I'm about to get a lesson I'll never forget?'

"Well, the best way to describe it is this; your body produces two types of energy that you harness. Physical energy for the body and Spiritual energy for the mind. When you use magic, you are using ONLY your spiritual energy that has been syphoned into the magical core and charged with intent. Chakra is the mixture of Physical and Spiritual energy that has not been refined by either core or metabolism. Do you understand so far?"

Sirius nodded dumbly for a minute as if he didn't truly get it which caused Harry to sigh. The young Sage stomped his foot once and a split second later a snake made out of wood jumped from the floor and coiled around his left arm, the snake having the same shade of eyes as Harry as well as the purple markings. From the crown of the snakes head sprouted two horns that branched out slowly like one would see on a deer, fascinating Sirius at the display of skill. 'There is no way that was normal transfiguration, and Serpensortia doesn't summon a wooden snake.'

"How the hell did you become a Druid, then?" Sirius asked calmly as he watched the horned serpent flick its vine tongue over Harry's ear before it dove back into the wooden floor without any evidence it was ever there.

"That was not a Druidic spell, but it was something extremely similar. You see, Druids would take very minute amounts of natural energy and filter it with their magical core, giving them the ability to conjure plants and mass produce potions ingredients. That was the primary reason for them being hunted down and slaughtered like cattle, numerous families here in England were displeased with the Celt's oversaturating the market with once extremely rare plants." Harry explained in a chipper voice though Sirius was not at all as enthusiastic as Harry over theoretical knowledge, let alone history.

"Anyways, what I use is Sage Chakra, which is the mixture of Natural energy, Spiritual energy and Physical energy. If Magic is one dimensional and unaligned Chakra is two dimensional, Sage Chakra can be described as three dimensional, so to speak. It is much denser, more potent if you will, than Magic or Chakra could ever be normally. What you just saw was a Wood Style technique I created myself using chakra instead of magic. That was its baby stage."

Orochimaru was a genius of the highest caliber; no matter how much of a psycho he was after Danzo got his hands on him. Everyone in the Elemental Nations assumed that Mokuton was a Kekkai Genkai of the Senju clan, but the prodigal student of Sarutobi Hiruzen knew otherwise.

After studying the DNA of Hashirama for years under the careful eye of 'The Foundation', the Snake Sannin came across a rather startling discovery. The Shodaime Hokage was a Sage in the truest meaning of the word; his chakra was almost like Harry's own.

Sometime in the leader of the Senju's life, he had begun to syphon small amounts of Senjutsu chakra from the surrounding life around him completely subconsciously. Orochimaru was only able to notice the slight 'twang' the Shodaime's chakra contained after getting completely sloshed and pushing his own chakra into a pitri dish that contained the cells of the fallen Kage much to the white snakes' embarrassment. After a few months of experimenting, Orochimaru made a breakthrough that would completely redefine certain branches of Jutsu completely.

The Shodaime's Mokuton style was half Doton, one quarter Suiton and one quarter Senjutsu which would give the wooden constructs life. More earth than water and the technique had amazing strength and size, reverse it and you get much more flexibility and speed.

Orochimaru and thus Harry used the second method more so than the first, though Orochimaru did not have the advantage Harry and Hashirama had despite the Snakes many experiments. Harry thought that the answer was obvious after thinking about it, but if there was one thing Shinobi of the Elemental Nations and the Wizards of this world that was similar, it was their lack of logic.

After hours of explaining chakra theory and the many uses for the energy, both Harry and Sirius were tired of speaking on the subject. The two continued to talk on multiple other subjects, from Harry's ongoing projects to Sirius's many stories of pranking people at Hogwarts with James, Remus, Peter and himself.

"You know, I have not had a headache this bad since I got chewed out by McGonagall for vanishing her panties in the middle of her end of the year announcements! I don't know whether to be pissed that you can out-teach me or proud." Sirius admitted with a chuckle before yawning heavily.

Harry smiled at the man's admission before wandlessly summoning a sleeping draught mixed with a powerful pain reliever. "Here, it will help with the headache. Do you want to stay here tonight?"

Sirius nodded his head after downing the potion, only to stop after a second and stare at the bottle. "Is everything alright?" Harry asked in concern at seeing the man's rather serious expression. 'There is NO way I could have messed that potion up, it's a personal creation of mine!'

Sirius continued to stare at the bottle for a second before looking at Harry with the straightest face he could manage. "Are you sure that was a potion?"

Harry was about to freak out before the man spoke up again, stopping the young child from running into his potion room to grab a bezoar. "I'm just pulling your leg Harry, that has to have been the best tasting potion I've ever had in my life! What is your secret?!"

Harry couldn't stop himself from adopting a deadpan expression at the man's proclamations, silently swearing that the man was going to be thoroughly pranked sometime in the morning. A few minutes later and Harry led Sirius to a spare room in the completely renovated Chapel so that the man could rest after the many revelations of the day. The moment Harry's Godfather was asleep, the youth began to prepare himself from the hardest task he has set out upon to date.

The young Sage was completely sure that tomorrow was going to be a very long day if tonight's operation was to go off without hitch. This time tomorrow and Harry would have his first follower.

=+FoStA+=

Auror McDaniels was not a happy man, not in the least. "I'm sick of being stuck on THIS GODDAMN ISLAND!" The screaming man was immediately slapped in the back of the head by his partner and told to hush up. There were hundreds of things McDaniels would rather be doing but because he and his partner Havel drew short straws they were stuck on Azkaban staring at the ceiling for a month.

Dementors did all of the work of keeping the prisoners 'calm', food was magically prepared and served to them through a bowl that would refill itself with the nutritious slop, and there was no possible way any of them could break out. It was an easy job, sure, but it was brain numbingly dull.

"Shut the hell up and go back to counting sheep you lazy asshole." Havel ground out as he stared down at the Daily Prophet. At the back of every sports section there were runic crossword puzzles every day, and Havel was officially pissed at today's edition.

"You can't connect a Sumerian Blood Rune with an Egyptian Explosion Rune you stupid IDIOTS!" Havel was a runes specialist, and even if the puzzle was for entertainment purposes, the mixing of those two families of runes only brought ill omen upon those who witnessed the unholy union.

Havel was slapped upside the head courtesy of McDaniels and promptly told to stuff his pie hole. "How about you make me, pipsqueak?" Havel growled as he rose from his sitting position and rolling up his sleeves, causing the smaller Auror to roll his eyes before drawing his wand. "You're a bloody Wizard, Havel, not a muggle. Act like it."

As the two began to attempt to kill one another, Harry was crouched upside down on the ceiling and hidden under the meseigakure technique. 'You know, I didn't think Genjutsu would work at all against wizards, but it seems to me that they work better than their supposed to. They were only supposed to argue, not fight… Maybe they do this often, then.'

Just a moment after Havel knocked McDaniels out and the extremely muscular man was unconscious on the floor next to his partner. Harry dropped from the ceiling and began to search the two man for the cell keys he was looking for. Of all the guards stationed on the Island, these two were the only ones to have keys. Thank goodness Legilimencing was still possible under invisibility, the poor guards on the ground floor had no clue their mind had been riffled through like a file cabinet.

After grabbing the universal cell keys and the two unconscious men's wands, Harry slipped out of the room and sprung to the ceiling where he began to walk calmly to his destination. Three patrols passed underneath the boy who didn't bother to hide himself under the invisibility due to the height of the corridors in Azkaban.

It took an hour for Harry to make any notable progress through the elaborately build maze that made up the cell blocks and guard stations. Just as the intruder was about to give up and return another night to free the prisoner being kept there, he struck gold.

'Finally found you. And look, all three of you are close together. Fantastic.' Harry thought to himself as he dropped from the ceiling once again under the invisibility Jutsu. Two clones phased into existence beside him and retrieved a key from their creator. Harry himself stared into cell he himself would deal with while going over the many possible outcomes of the soon to occur meeting between two complete strangers.

Two pulses of chakra from each of his clones was the signal he was waiting for. The clone that took the right cell handed Harry a key before dragging an unconscious, bound and gagged body behind him. The left clone joined the original and brother a moment later before the two disappeared back into the corridor.

'The Shadow clone technique has to be the most versatile and useful Jutsu ever created. It's a good thing I have Sage Chakra, otherwise I doubt I could even create one.'

Harry slid the key into the cell lock before sliding the barred door away from the frame. The sleeping figure in the cell awoke with a jolt at hearing the loud screeching sound of metal grinding on metal. Though shadows mostly obscured the figure, Harry was positive that this was the person he was looking for.

"W-Who are you and w-what do you want?" The obscured person finally groaned out, their voice hoarse and airy from either screaming their lungs out daily or lack of use, whichever it was eluded Harry.

"My name is not important at this very moment. What IS important however is you, Bellatrix."

The now identified Bellatrix Lestrange nee Black slowly walked forward from the encompassing darkness, her gait extremely strained and clumsy no doubt to atrophied muscles. Her hair was a complete mess but that was to be expected.

Her dark eyes were sunken into her skull and her skin was stretched tight over her face, giving her already strong jawline far too much definition to be considered beautiful while in such bad shape. Raggedy and stained cloth was slung over the estranged Black's malnourished frame with close to the same feeling as a potato sack if its looks were anything to go by.

"Upon the age up seventeen, you were forced into an arranged marriage by your aunt to Rodolphus Lestrange. During that time you joined Voldemorts forces loyally, at least at first. You loved Voldemort dearly and obeyed his every order, but you soon came to realize that Voldemort didn't love you, couldn't appreciate what you did for him. After attempting to kill your master in a fit of rage, you were beaten and held under three simultaneously cast imperious curses."

Bellatrix gasped at Harry's words as she listened to him speak. "How do you know this?" She hissed and began to try and break free from the chains that bound her to her cell. Harry chuckled lowly at her question and graced her with a curt answer. "I know many things, Bellatrix. Many, many, many things that this world could not even fathom. I know that you just wanted to be shown affection, to be praised for your hard work. Now you are here, rotting away in prison where your soul is being feasted upon while you fester in your own filth." Harry made sure to sneer at this part, acting as if the thought of her rotting away in prison was disgusting to him.

If there was one thing both Tom Riddle and Orochimaru had in common that Harry capitalized on, it was their charisma and the ability to completely manipulate anyone and everyone they could. Bellatrix LeStrange was a broken woman Harry knew without a shadow of a doubt. She was fanatically loyal to those who she deems fit for her to serve, mostly due to the fact that she was almost incapable of living for herself.

"If you come with me, I can give you the affection you desire. I can give you power beyond your wildest dreams and a goal to strive towards. To sweeten the deal a bit, so to speak, I give you this gift in good faith."

Harry vanished the chains that bound her and tossed one of the procured wands at her feet. With a snap of his fingers, the two unconscious and bound bodies floated into the room via wandless magic with flare. "These are yours for the next ten minutes, get creative with it if you don't mind; I seem to need a bit of… inspiration."

=+FoStA+=

Andddd that's a wrap for chapter 3. This has been my favorite chapter to write so far, but just you wait. The next chapter is going to be much better. ;]


	4. Balance and Ruin-A Sense of Purpose

From one Snake to Another

Chapter 4, Balance and Ruin-A Sense of Purpose

I do not own ANYTHING related to either Naruto or Harry Potter.

=+FoStA+=

'Escaping from Azkaban is almost as easy as getting into it.' Harry mused to himself as he and Bellatrix walked through the now deserted corridors of the prison island. Harry had sent shadow clones under invisibility all over the prison to draw the many patrols away from the entrance, making the escape too easy for him. On a final thought, Harry summoned a few more squads of clones to remain behind and cause as much havoc as possible without killing anyone.

One squad of Auror's found themselves under assault from an invisible force using the tickling charm and the stinging hex interchangeably and in no particular pattern. Hominum Revelio did no good, nor did any of their Finite Incantatum's. Another squad was lifted by the back of each other their robes and hung upside down using industrial glue laced with earth chakra by edges of their underpants.

Extremely liberal use of Serpensortia and hissed instructions ensured that the next time any guards tried to use the restroom, they would be in for a wonderful surprise when they sat on the commode.

Bellatrix had hardly spoken a word after torturing and killing the LeStrange brothers in cold blood. Years of abuse and torture had taken its toll on the woman's mind, though Harry had no room to speak due to having over a centuries worth of memories pertaining mostly towards inhumane subjects one way or another.

Once outside of the floating prison, Harry procured a larger than normal broom for the two to ride until they passed the Anti-Apparition wards that surrounded the island. "Security really sucks around this place." And with that said, the two disappeared in a silent pop indicating apparition.

The pair arrived in the courtyard of Asylum One as quietly as they disappeared from Azkaban, something that impressed Bellatrix. "Silent Apparition is very hard to achieve. You are full of surprises, aren't you stranger?"

"Of course, Bella. You don't mind if I call you Bella, do you?" Harry asked as he peered at Bellatrix from the corner of his eyes. The reborn being didn't bother with a full body disguise while infiltrating Azkaban, only changing his face to match that of his late servant Kimimaro. 'Wait, what? MY late servant? Whatever, just one of those quirks that comes with overlapping souls I guess.'

"Only if you tell me exactly who you are. I don't know how I'm supposed to serve a man when he won't even tell me his name." Bellatrix quipped before giggling madly at her own joke. 'Definitely a few screws loose inside this one's head.' Harry thought to himself before deciding how to proceed with telling her who he was. 'Screw it.'

"My name is Harry Potter, Slayer of Voldemort and devourer of souls. Pleased to make your acquaintance, Bella. Serve me well and you will be rewarded handsomely, betray me and you will die, no questions asked." Harry said as his 'face' slowly peeled away, revealing his true appearance after the transformation completely crumbled to ashes. 'That better have looked as bad ass as I think it did.'

'Not many people can boast to have slayed a Dark Lord at the age of three months old. That proves that either Voldemort was incredibly weak, or Harry is incredibly powerful. If that prophecy is to be believed, Harry might be my only shot at getting revenge on Voldemort. Plus, he's already given me the most fantastic gift anyone has ever given me!' Bellatrix nodded as if nonplussed by his revelation.

"Of course, it makes sense, I suppose. Alright, you have a deal, Master! I, Bellatrix LeStrange nee Black do solemnly swear on my life and magic to forever faithfully serve Harry Potter till the end of my days and to never betray his secrets or his trust. So mote it be!"

Harry was a bit surprised at how accepting she was of his identity but decided not to look a gift horse in the mouth. "You know you don't have to call me master, right?"

The slightly insane woman tilted her head to the side as if she didn't understand what he way saying. "Of course I do, Master. You are my Master, after all. It is only proper for a servant of such a powerful being to acknowledge her place. Plus you give the most amazing gifts!"

Harry stared at her for a few seconds before shrugging. "Okay, suit yourself. How about we go clean out the LeStrange vault after you clean yourself up? There is something in there that I need to get my hands on. Helga Hufflepuff's esteemed cup and the shard of Voldemorts soul that is hidden within it. Whatever else is in the vault will go to the Akatsuki account, which I will give you access to the moment we finish the LeStrange transfer."

"I hate that damned name more than anything!" Bellatrix shouted in a fit of rage befitting someone just escaping from Azkaban. "I curse the LeStrange name and would give anything to retake the name Black… maybe one day Potter." Harry's servant at this point broke off on a tangent, though Harry blushed at the woman's implication.

"I'm a bit too young for that right now, ask again in a decade and my answer might be different." Harry finally managed to get out. Bellatrix giggled before nodding her head in agreement. The Master and Servant found themselves in one of the fixed up hospitals. Harry led her to a room she could decorate herself, though the bare essentials were there for the meantime.

The trip to Gringotts took longer than expected, but by the time the two returned to Asylum, the Black fortune was completely replenished without so much as a dent in the Akatsuki vaults and the LeStrange family was completely bereft of Gold and the many Family Spells that were left in the vault.

After completely wiping out the Heroin ring in Epsom, as well as the prostitution businesses that plagued the streets, Harry was positive that he was one of the more wealthy members of both Muggle and Magickal societies.

'Sure, it seems like enough now, but I know that it costs far more than necessary to wage a war, let alone on multiple fronts.' Harry thought to himself as he went over his mental checklist before going to sleep.

'Wards, check. Kunai under my pillow, check. Silencing and locking seals, check. Bellatrix in my bed, che-'

"What the hell are you doing in my room, Bellatrix?"

=+FoStA+=

After a few minutes of arguing, Harry still wasn't able to remove Bellatrix from his room. He gave up and passed out almost immediately after under the unblinking gaze of his first follower. The next morning was an affair Harry wished he could view again. 'Note to self, invest in a pensieve.'

The 'son' of prongs had laced Sirius's breakfast the next morning with a nefarious pranking potion named 'The Ball Buster'. "That was a delicious-OH GOD NO!" Harry couldn't stop himself from clutching his stomach in laughter at the more than a few pitches higher scream of Sirius once the potion took effect.

"Next time you scare me like you did last night and you won't get them back for a day as opposed to an hour. Once the potion wears off, can you join me in Lab fifteen?"

An hour later we find Sirius and Harry both standing over a large green cauldron, the thin liquid inside bubbling and frothing angrily as the flames cooked the ingredients down. "Okay, so what am I looking at here, Harry?"

Harry grinned at his Godfather who shivered at the action. "As sad as it is, your smile is one of the scariest things I've ever seen. Don't give me that look; just tell me what this is. Speaking of which, what was that about business that your… follower? Itachi was talking about?"

"We will get to that soon, I promise. This, Sirius, is something Voldemort used for his werewolf forces during the first war. It's called wolfsbane due to the Aconite present in it created ten years ago by a man named Damocles. This wonderful creation completely relieves the symptoms of the Lycanthropes transformation and allows the transformed to completely control themselves under the full moon. This is my own strain of the potion, the original was far too volatile to create, and far too weak for anyone but the children werefolk."

Sirius sort of stared, sort of gawked at his godson for a moment. "Okay… do you know how much something like this is worth? And if it was invented ten years ago, why am I only hearing about this now?"

"You can blame the late and great Millicent Bagnold for that. Not a month after the potion was created it was labeled as Class-S contraband and was removed from the shelves immediately after. Damocles was arrested and put to death by Dementors kiss shortly after. I only know of it due to Voldemort having interrogated the man for the potion details before the man was killed." Harry paused for a second before grabbing a large spoon made of gold to stir the potion he and Sirius were crowding around.

"You see, Bagnold wasn't only in Dumbledore's pocket, but Voldemort's as well. Two Dark Lords fought over complete control over the ministry, though it is fairly obvious Dumbles has the advantage there. Here, this scroll contains both the original and my own version of the potion. I will be sending you a new assistant at the end of the day, and you had better behave yourself and act like an adult!" Harry practically growled the last part as he handed Sirius a large scroll tied with a purple and green ribbon, having remembered a few stories from the previous night.

Sirius just shrugged his shoulders before making a snarky remark on how he would 'think' about it depending on the person. Harry rolled his eyes before asking the question he was meaning to since night before.

"Sirius, I need you to annul Bellatrix's marriage into the LeStrange family. After a series of_… _fortunate events, I have acquired a follower and taught the wardens of Azkaban the meaning of _constant vigilance_."

Harry went on to explain the jailbreak and the subsequent freedom of his murderous and very insane cousin Bellatrix. "You want me to just… accept her back into the family after everything she did in the first war?! She tortured some of my best friends into insanity Harry!"

Harry sighed before telling Sirius what went on behind the scenes in the death eater's camp, from her love for Voldemort and her later enslavement under three imperious curses. "You know, that explains why she eventually went crazy, most people would have had their magic turn against them even under two curses, let alone three… She and I used to be close when we were kids, same with 'Cissy and she NEVER acted like a raging psychopath. Just a stuck up bi-"

Harry coughed before nodded grimly at Sirius's observation before unsealing a golden key from his wrist and handing it to his Godfather. "That is the key to the new Black vaults. I had the other closed and made sure you were the ONLY person so far able to access it. The Black fortune has been restored to what it was before Albus got his hands on it. All I ask is that we work together for a few projects and allow Bellatrix to take her old name. It's a favor to her, you see."

Sirius nodded numbly before staring at his godson with an incredulous gaze. "You know, you don't act like any eight year old I've ever met. If it wasn't for your oath, I doubt I would have believed your Harry. You have a certain… air about you, I guess, it makes it hard to believe you're really just a kid."

Harry shrugged and just said it came with the trade. Sirius wasn't sure whether he was talking about being a Shinobi or a Dark wizard. Either was just as bad, but Sirius promised himself he would have Harry's back come Hell or high water.

Harry and Sirius continued to discuss business for a few hours before they both came to an agreement. Harry would allow Sirius to use one of the hospitals as his base of operations and Harry would be given four percent of any and every sell Sirius was to make.

Bellatrix Black was a giddy woman when she realized her marriage contract had been annulled and immediately rushed into the lab where Sirius and Harry were having their meeting. The woman had cleaned up nicely and wore an elegant black dress that hugged her frame in all of the right places.

"Master, Master, Guess what?" Bella could barely contain herself, jumping in place and clapping in delight was not something one would see many prison escapees doing often. Harry looked thoughtful for a second before shaking his head. "I don't know Bella, you tell me."

"Since Cousin Dearest brought me back into the family, I have access to the Black family magicks again! I was a metamorphagus before becoming a LeStrange," She spat once for good measure before continuing, "So now I can do this!"

Bella's body began to shrink and change at a phenomenal rate before she soon looked like she did as a child. "Since you are so tiny, I'm going to be tiny too!"

Harry's form was obscured by an aura of purple and white before his form shifted and twisted into the form of Itachi Uchiha. 'Itachi' opened his eyes and stared at Sirius and Bellatrix with a slight sneer on his face.

'Voldemort sure did know how to act like a stuck up pureblood for being the son of a squib and a muggle.' Harry thought to himself as he walked back towards the cauldron and continued to stir the Wolfsbane in a peculiar pattern.

Harry turned back to the two stunned Black's with the most 'I'm superior to you in every way' look he could manage before his 'body' began to break away into ash.

"So, you and Itachi are- You're Itachi?" Sirius stammered as the final remnants of Itachi's 'body' disappeared into nothingness. "How the hell did you do THAT?"

Harry sniffed. "Magic."

=+FoStA+=

Severus Snape was THIS close to snapping. For- how many days has it been? He has been stuck in this cell for far too long. His only companion was a tall figure wearing a completely blank mask with a large hooded cloak covering the rest of his body. His captor didn't speak, didn't make a single noise. He just stared at him. The lack of noise was driving Severus mad, but more so than that the fact he couldn't carry out his orders was slowly killing him.

Harry watched from his spot directly in front of the man, his wand held steadily in his right hand while his left was held in a half tiger seal. Holding the invisibility technique and removing the custom made Imperious-like curse was a little beyond Harry at the moment which irritated the boy to no end.

For the past two weeks, Harry had slowly but surely gleaned information from the potion experts mind, but most of it was a jumbled mess. Harry was frustrated with his lack of progress with the information gathering when the answer struck him like a hammer to an anvil.

Severus Snape was under the thrall of a spell on a completely different level than the imperious curse was. Its ability to completely ensnare a person without giving away the tell-tale signs of mind control was something that Tom Riddle was not capable of. 'It's beyond my current comprehension, but I should be able to break it.'

Today was the day Harry was finally able to remove the effects of the spell, leaving Severus Snape in a completely confused stupor. "Where am I? What… what madness is this?!"

Harry dropped the invisibility Jutsu after stowing away his wand for the moment. "You are currently being held in confinement under my behest, Mr. Snape. You see, two weeks ago I was strolling along Diagon Alley and to my utter surprise, the Alley was completely overrun with Death Eaters during the Ministers speech. After I confronted the deaths eaters head on, the force was rendered unconscious or dead. You were the one I happened to grab for interrogation, but to my surprise-"Harry cut himself off to stare at the man directly in the eyes for a moment.

"You were under something far beyond the imperious curse in terms of power and effectiveness. I have worked for two weeks now on breaking the curse. My names Harry Potter, it's a pleasure to meet someone who was close friends with my mother."

Severus's eyes shot to his forehead where the scar that marked him Voldemorts equal lay bare. "You died! The instruments in Dumbledore's office said you DIED!" Snape was sure that Harry Potter was struck from the world after hearing the reports of his living conditions and later fate at the hands of his uncle.

"The Auror's have declared you dead after reviewing the case and the subsequent disappearance of your uncle. I want a wizard's oath if you really are who you say you are."

Harry swore the oath once again to prove himself truthful about his identity before Harry brought forth his proposition.

"You too have been declared dead, and if you would like, I can get you a job with someone who is in severe need of a potions master. I will pay you handsomely for your work and give you as many potion ingredients as you will need or want. I have procured two cauldrons with powerful concentration enchantments on them that you can have complete access to. Your job at Hogwarts has been filled by Slughorn once again after Albus declared you were one of the Death Eaters at the attack who died at my hands."

"Surely they would have been able to identify my body if that were so?" Snape snapped as he paced the cell he was stuck in, his mind racing a mile a minute. 'This could be a chance to pursue my own career as a potions master rather than a damned spy or a glorified babysitter.' "And what of when Voldemort inevitably returns? Surely you know I am one of the Dark Lords closest confidents and member of his Inner Circle?"

The boy summoned a shadow clone silently, so that it appeared as if the masked figure appeared out of thin air, and immediately spat a small orb of condensed Futon Chakra at it after a few seconds of concentrating his chakra. The figure was shredded into millions of pieces before the chunks disappeared much like the figure appeared. "That's why they wouldn't have identified your body."

Harry grinned for a moment before asking Snape to show him the mark. When Severus rolled his left sleeve up to reveal the mark, his eyes glanced across flawless skin. "The mark is gone. That's not-"

"Anything is possible if you know everything the creator did."

Snape paled at the words and slowly backed away from Harry. "Don't worry, I'm not hell bent on ridding the world of Muggleborn's and enslaving the mundane. I have a much more… Grand scheme, if you will. I freed you of your burden, Severus, and as a friend of my mothers, I would love to have you on board."

Snape was torn. Being free of the Dark Mark was something he never even dreamed of. He was announced dead in Magical England, but now he had a fresh start at life. Did he want to waste it working for Harry Potter, or go about on his own?

"Tell me more of the benefits of working for you, Potter, you've got my interest."

=+FoStA+=

The next two years passed in a blur to Harry, who had stayed busy doing one thing or another. Together with Bellatrix, Harry was able to begin researching the bloodlines of the Magical world and study his own DNA where he found a surprise.

During the transformation due to Kamui, Sasuke's DNA was transposed onto his own just like Orochimaru's had. After pushing chakra to his eyes to confirm it, Harry was proud to announce that he had one upped 'Himself' once again.

Harry's Sharingan was not like the original, though. Since it was transformed along with him, the uses of the eyes were like the original for the most part but not completely. Instead of being able to see the chakra network alone, he was also allowed to view how one was molding magic and thus know what spell was coming.

The coveted bloodline gave him an almost eidetic memory and much greater reflexes, though the ability to copy everything he saw was not present in his new bloodline limit.

Using Legilimency probes and casting Genjutsu through eye contact was child's play, but the ability to cast spells using his eyes as if they were a wand was the greatest ability yet.

Research into new Mokuton creations using magical plants as a base instead of mundane was gloriously profitable. New breeds of plants of all sorts now lay scattered across the courtyard and beyond, filling the once abandoned hospital center with a new spark of life.

Trees capable of producing extremely nutritious fruits year round and in extremely abundant supply were one of Harry's favorite creations so far, right outside of his new pet snake and Dryad.

The wards surrounding Asylum One were expanded to stretch four miles out instead of just one and the land under Harry's control was rendered Unplottable with the help of Sirius and Bellatrix.

The use of Fidelius was moot thanks to the Senbonzakura trees that surrounded the perimeter, though a much more powerful Notice-me-not charm was used much like the one Hogwarts was currently under.

The monolith used to tie the wards in was much taller than the Obelisks were, but the capable output of energy was dramatically increased. Asylum one was now roughly the size of Otogakure, but the expansion of the hidden base had to be put on halt due to the city of Epsom using the rest of the area around.

After going through a list of magical serpents in a desire to create his own familiar, Harry finally acquired the perfect specimen. A seven foot long Runespoor was procured by Sirius after the man sent back information about the species while he was on a business trip to Africa.

The snake was a beautiful specimen to behold and even greater to enhance with his scientific prowess. The black and orange scales that were common on the snake were now replaced with white and green stripes.

Its once three pairs of fiery red eyes were changed to a strange green that seemed to glow in the dark and had the infamous sage markings around its eyes due to the Senjutsu chakra that was running through its forcefully created Chakra Network.

The creature was named Pythia after the priestess of the oracle at Delphi for the middle snakes thousand-yard stare. Like what he assumed was his soul, the left head was the intelligent one, the middle was daydreaming all the time and the right one was just unpleasant to anyone but Harry.

The Black market was back open for business which made Sirius very happy indeed. With the chakra grown plants being in extreme abundance, the head of the Blacks took advantage of the opportunity presented and began to make many transactions across the globe.

Bellatrix was as happy as could be. Sure she was a wanted fugitive, but she was confident her master would keep her out of any sort of trouble. She had learned the ins and outs of every lab in Asylum One, some of which were completely restricted to only her and Harry.

Her prowess with medical and research equipment and instruments had quickly grown under Harry's guidance, much faster than Kabuto's had in the Elemental Nations. Though she currently lacked the chakra coils necessary to learn Iryojutsu, her Magical healing talent more than made up for it.

Severus had been almost… pleasant to work with, but was still just about as snarky as could be. The acclaimed potions master had made many breakthroughs on the research into the Mokuton grown magical strain of plants that were being created almost weekly by Harry and Bella.

Harry had created a tree unlike any other thanks to Severus who had a vial of blood of Lily's stored away under stasis at the woman's behest years ago.

Through countless hours and many failures, Harry was able to produce a living tree so to speak of Lily, though the dryad-like woman had none of witch's memories.

Thanks to the procedure of growing the tree she was bound to using extremely dense Mokuton Chakra, the clone of Lily was able to use many of Harry's wood styled techniques.

Because of the nature of her existence though, she was not able to travel more than a mile from her tree of residence.

Lilith, as she was named in remembrance of the woman she was 'birthed' from, was always with either Harry or Severus, her only bonds to the world.

After Harry taught Snape the wonders of Reverse-Legilimency, the ex-potions professor was able to impart Lilith with all of his memories concerning Lily, including the message she passed on when she gave Severus the vial of her blood. 'Protect my legacy.'

'Lily was always staring into her Scrying Glass; she must have foreseen what was to come' was Severus's answer when Harry asked what 'protect my legacy' was supposed to mean.

Lilith was not fond of Sirius at all due to the half-blood prince's knowledge of Dumbledore's manipulations between the Blacks best friend and her Original as Lilith dubbed Lily.

Sirius himself was ashamed of what James had done as well as Albus but there was nothing he could do to change the Dryads mind.

Harry was not impressed with his 'father' after learning of his treachery as well as the fact that the man was in cahoots with Albus. "The Potter name truly is worthless now, both in memory and monetary standings. I will eventually take another name, but for my time in Hogwarts I will keep it." Harry remarked after watching Severus's interactions with his mother in a pensieve dive.

Today was the final day of silence for the Akatsuki clan as Harry had named his 'new' organization. The four members of Harry's business were all gathered in the center of the Chapel which Harry finished completely remodeling from the holy image it once had to a dark and expansive room that Harry called home.

The walls were lined with multiple banners, one of which depicted the Orochi crest, which was a three headed serpent with green eyes surrounded by the purple sage marks. The Serpent was wrapped around the world tree Yggdrasil, though only Harry and Bellatrix knew the significance behind it.

The Black family Banner was present next to the Orochi crest, which consisted of three ravens beneath a black chevron. Above the chevron was a gauntleted hand wielding a wand, representing the fact that they were a Magical family. The words '_Toujours Pur_' were written beneath the feet of the lowest raven, meaning Always Pure.

The Prince crest was the last one currently present among the mostly blank banners that made up the families owing allegiance to Akatsuki. The Prince crest consisted of two wands crossed behind a silver crown encrusted with snakes and emeralds, marking their place in the Wizardry world as one of the 'Dark' families much like the Blacks with their ravens.

The floors were of obsidian that didn't cast a single reflection of the light pouring down on it from the green and purple balls of flame that were hung suspended in the air around the expansive room.

Harry was the first to begin speaking, his voice having slightly deepened over the past two years. "So how goes the Black market? What is our estimated growth for the year?" Harry turned towards Sirius so that the man could elaborate.

"Currently, sells all around the world have skyrocketed without any trouble whatsoever, my old network of trade is running at two hundred percent efficiency compared to during the first war. Our estimated growth is around five hundred thousand galleons before the end of October, which is equivalent to twenty percent of the funds currently in the Black vaults."

"And the Akatsuki vault?" Harry asked, waving his hand for Sirius to elaborate. "It's currently five thousand percent more valuable than the Black vaults, but that is to be expected with your little… 'trouble-shooting' business."

Harry had begun small time assassination missions and protection details with Bellatrix in his spare time, mostly for crooked politicians in both Africa and Russia. Thanks to Sirius's rather large underground trading network, Harry was able to acquire contracts quite easily when his Godfather 'leaked' information of knowing an Assassin-for-hire.

Slowly but surely, the Akatsuki name was being noticed by both the right and wrong people, though it mattered little to the Shinobi. After all, the people he was protecting one day were his targets the next, no need to get attached to any clientele unless they had long term value.

Harry nodded before turning to Severus. "And what have you on the brewing of new potions we need? I trust you have enough ingredients to supply the experiment?" Snape curtly nodded before pulling a small vial from his sleeve, probably from the runic array created to make sealing scrolls without the use of chakra Harry had created with Bellatrix early on in her apprenticeship under him.

"This is the final product capable of completely activating the Chakra Networks of any individual whether old or young without them having to go through the same process as you. I am the only one capable of brewing it, and with my sworn oath, I can never divulge its secrets to any but you in any form. Come by my lab later to learn the process."

"You know, that's the most you have ever spoken without being a complete narcissistic dou-"

"Sirius, I swear if you finish that sentence I'm going to give you a lesson in pranking you will never recover from." Harry snapped while flashing Sirius a bloodthirsty grin.

Sirius barked out a few laughs at Harry's threat before quipping that he was too young to win a war with the master but stopped after he felt himself being shocked. The Black looked around wildly for whatever shocked him but couldn't find a single thing.

"Back to business, is this dosage enough to work on Bellatrix if she was to consume it tonight?" Harry asked the potions expert who nodded his head in the affirmative.

"Excellent. Come Bella, it's time to make a Kunoichi out of you before I make my grand re-entrance into the magical world." And with that, the four parted ways. Sirius began to walk towards the hospital building Harry had 'donated' to him for his base of operations in the criminal underworld.

Severus walked in silence towards his lab and was intercepted half way by Lilith. "Heya Sev! How did the meeting go?" Severus gave the Dryad a small smile before shrugging slightly. "As normal as expected. We talked a little on the Black affairs and the completion of the chakra potion. Harry is going to teach Bellatrix his 'Ninja' arts or whatever it is the boy does. Goodness knows what the ruffian Sirius is getting into."

"You don't sound happy, Sev, what's bothering you?" Lilith asked in concern while floating next to him. The potions master shook his head before looking towards her. "You know I was controlled by both Voldemort and Dumbledore. I'm worried that Harry will do the same."

Lilith giggled lightly before twirling in place. "Of course Harry won't, he has no need to. If you were to betray him, you would die, not simply be put under the imperious."

Severus sighed again before shaking his head. "You're right, Lilith. There is no point in dwelling on it. Come; let's go work on a few potions and talk."

=+FoStA+=

One could always expect to feel a sense of danger as they walked the back alleys connected to Diagon. Knockturn was not the only hole most dark wizards could be found in, it was just the most well-known.

In the southern-most reaches of London lay an area only the shadiest of magicals dwelled. The 'Dirge' was an area Bellatrix felt at home in, her 'home away from home' so to speak. Her sister Narcissa Malfoy did not share her sentiments.

"When someone dies in the magical world, why can't they STAY dead?" Narcissa snapped as she entered the pub where 'Itachi' and Bellatrix were steadily nursing drinks in as to remain inconspicuous.

Harry praised his mothers work for his increased metabolism as well as the highly active Senjutsu Chakra running through his veins because Bella would have drank him under the table at the pace they were slamming them back.

"I don't remember dying. Master, did I die?" Bellatrix was highly intoxicated by this point and barely coherent. Harry shook his head in the negative before stage whispering, "No, but they could have thought you died along with the Le- those two you played with. I disposed of them as I did the death eaters on 'Potters day', so maybe they thought you were mixed in with the bits?" He rapidly corrected himself at seeing a deranged look on his servants face.

Narcissa stared at the strangely clothed man before snapping. "And just who are you? You don't look like any upstanding Pureblood I've ever met. Have you fallen so low as to call this man your master when your Lord is-"

"Voldemort is NOT my lord. My master is this wonderful man here. He is far more capable than Tom Marvolo Riddle Jr. was at ruling this world. You best hold your tongue before I take it!" Bellatrix hissed as she rose from her seated position with her wand in one hand and a kunai in the other.

The Malfoy's Matron eyed the weapons wearily before nodding her head stiffly. "Why have you asked me here?"

"I have a proposition for you and your husband, Narcissa. I suggest you hear it out before you lose out on a… wonderful opportunity." 'Itachi' drawled as he handed the woman a sealed scroll. "He will only be able to open the letter with a drop of his blood, which he will need to apply on the wax seal."

Bellatrix finally lowered her weapons before leaning forward to whisper in her sisters' ear. "I highly suggest you do what this man says. When it comes down to him and Volde, well… Let's just hope you do the smart thing here."

With a giggle, Bella planted a kiss on her sisters' cheek before leaning away. With a small wave of her hand, the two figures that were meeting with Narcissa were gone as if they were never there. The Malfoy stood there pondering Bellatrix's words before departing minutes after she walked in, the scroll tucked away into her purse.

=+FoStA+=

"You mean to tell me you were alive this whole time? Where were you? How did you survive?"

Harry was patient as he listened to the Minister for Magic Amelia Bones ask rapid fire questions pertaining to his whereabouts and his condition for the past three years. Itachi sat in the chair to the boys left and Sirius Black to the boy's right. Itachi was a Blood Clone instead of a henge'd Harry, but Amelia would never be able to tell the difference.

"Itachi here saved me from Vernon before the vile man was able to finish me off. He has been teaching me things I need to know to survive in this world unscathed and practically adopted me along with Sirius." Harry answered her questions with a single general answer and placed a genjutsu on the woman that would make her much more agreeable to his words.

Sirius squirmed in his seat as he watched his Godson manipulate an old lover of his, not at all comfortable with the idea. Itachi was watching the man with his usual cold gaze, Sirius long ago having come to realize that Itachi and Harry were separate personalities all together and was more than disturbed when Harry officially 'created' him.

A week after delivering the message to Narcissa, Harry and Bella got to work in the lab so that once Harry started Hogwarts, 'Itachi Uchiha' would still be around doing Harry's bidding as the growing boy was away at school. It was only thanks to the mixture of Chakra, Magic and Technology that Itachi was born to the world. Now there were technically two Harry Potter's running around, even if they didn't look anything alike.

"Of course, Itachi here has a thing about saving people, doesn't he?" Amelia asked smugly as she smiled at the aforementioned man. Itachi merely nodded at the woman who wasn't fazed by his lack of reaction. Sirius coughed into his hand to draw attention to himself for a moment.

"Do you think you could revoke his Death Certificate? Or how can he go about that?" the Black asked as he tore his eyes away from the ever-stoic Itachi. 'Why did Harry have to even make this creep?'

Amelia nodded her head after pondering the question for a few moments. "It should be possible. If we revoke the Death Certificate, you should reappear on the Hogwarts rosters. There was an incident a few years ago where a muggle-born drowned and was immediately given CPR. The boy had disappeared and reappeared on the rosters while the headmaster was viewing it, so your name should already be present. I'll revoke the Certificate tonight discreetly."

Harry smiled before slowly lifting the Genjutsu from the woman. "Thank you very much Minister, I hope you have a wonderful day. You don't mind if we keep my non-death under wraps until I get to Hogwarts, do you?"

Amelia smiled and told the boy that her lips were sealed before the three visitors departed from her office and made their way to the Apparition point. A few moments after the group left, Amelia's secretary began to scribble a note before rushing off to the owlry. Her 'master' was not going to be pleased by the news.

The young woman was alone in the corridor when she completely disappeared without a trace. This would be the first of many 'purges' of the Ministry, though it was not an internal affair like the ignorant masses would come to think.

=+FoStA+=

Chapter 4 End

A/N: Don't make me beg for reviews guy's and girl's, that's just not nice! Over 1.5 k hits and only 11 reviews? Even if you hate it, let me know what you think!


	5. Standing on the Precipice

From one Snake to Another

Chapter 5, Standing on the Precipice

I do not own ANYTHING related to Naruto or Harry Potter

Huge thanks to everyone and anyone who reviewed so far! It means a lot to me!

The reason so much emphasis is put on Lily is simple. It was only due to her blood magicks that Harry even survived Kamui, so of course he is going to be thankful to the woman. Just saying. Voldemort and Dumbledore will be incredibly powerful and a very big challenge for Harry to overcome. He will NOT be recreating any other members but will try and emulate their techniques or find someone who can, no doubt. I realize that the day of Parliamentary Elections was in 1989, but for the sake of the story, let's assume George Bush Sr. was still president of the USA in 1991 as well as Mikhail still being the 'president' of Russia.

=+FoStA+=

If one was to ask Harry what he expected to do for the last few months before he began Hogwarts, he would answer 'Getting ready for School.' But what he was doing was completely different.

Harry found himself in Poland on the day of July 4th overlooking the large gathering in Warsaw. Today was the day the Parliamentary Elections would be held and for the first time in decades, a non-communist party would be taking power without doubt. His target was standing atop a raised stage with two others, a male and female who looked to be in their elderly years.

Harry wasn't there to watch the election; he was there to crash the elections. At the distance of five miles away from his target, one wouldn't expect any type of rifle to hit its target on the first shot, but this rifle was special.

After training himself thoroughly in the use of modern firearms, Harry came to the realization that dodging bullets was almost impossible if he didn't have a form of cover or use of Doton techniques. If HE couldn't dodge a bullet, then he doubted ANYONE could dodge a bullet.

The PSG1 sniper rifle was nothing to sneeze at by itself, it being the height of German engineering, but enhanced by Chakra Alloy and compression seals designed to syphon Chakra directly from Harry and utilize it as both Ammunition and the ignition source and it was a completely different monster all together.

The seals that lined the inside and outside of the barrel were designed to completely silence the rail of Futon Chakra that could be fired in a single or burst shot, the 'rail' capable of traveling up to twenty five thousand feet before losing its effectiveness. The recoil from the weapon was completely removed, making the handling of the weapon far better than any other on the market.

Thanks to the discovery of a new talent in Harry's Sharingan knock-off, he was able to 'zoom in' so to speak on anything within his line of sight exponentially. Sure he couldn't copy everything he saw, but it's the little things that make him happy.

Bellatrix was crouched next to the prone figure of Harry with a pair of enhanced Omnoculars to her face, calling out coordinated to Harry in coded phrases created by the two of them.

"Alright Bella, be ready to apparate us out of here the moment we confirm he's down."

After a brief countdown, orbs of green light began to gather around the barrel of the PSG1 and travel down into the gun to condense into a rail. Three seconds later and a small beam erupted from the rifle and disappeared from sight almost instantly.

"Got him AND the guy standing next to him! The President of the United States won't be making it home tonight. Good shot master!"

After sealing the rifle away into his left wrist, Bellatrix latched onto Harry's arm and the two disappeared in a silent pop, Bellatrix having trained tirelessly to be able to quietly apparate like her master.

By that evening, James Danforth Quayle would be introduced as the 45th President of the United States, and Harry would be half a billion dollars richer than he was before he pulled the trigger. "Politics is a Killer business, wouldn't you agree Bella?"

The demented woman giggled at Harry's terrible joke before quipping her own. "Oh yes, too many years in and you just lose your Head!"

The two continued to laugh at the jokes as they wandered the streets of Washington, D.C. where the news of George Bush Seniors' untimely demise has just reached the Capital.

The two disguised individuals made their way to the Colonies Gringotts that was located two miles north of the White House in one of America's biggest magical communities.

Babylonia was a large covenant of neutral and dark wizards unlike Diagon Alley which was a more light oriented area, though America has always been famous to the blood thirsty mages that it churns out every decade or so.

By the time they had returned from meeting the squib who acted as a middle man at the Gringotts bank, a large crowd had gathered outside of the White House. The official speaker had made the official announcement to the crowd and many gathered news stations of the president's demise.

Harry and Bellatrix nodded to each other before disappearing back into the crowd where they apparated back to Asylum One to give the good news. That evening they would have to make a trip to the USSR to take care of loose ends there and watch as the world tears itself apart.

To make things a little interesting, Harry left behind incriminating evidence that would put the watchful eyes of America and its multiple alphabet-soup agencies on Russia as the culprit behind the assassination as opposed to it having been an inside job.

It wasn't part of the deal with Mr. President, but that didn't matter in the least. It was time to initiate one of Harry's larger operations.

=+FoStA+=

Queen Elizabeth II was a very paranoid woman. After hearing the news of the US Presidents as well as the would-be polish Ministers assassination at the Polish election with Russian involvement, despite what the USSR says otherwise, the Monarch was sure another World War was brewing.

The tension between the two countries could be felt easily by the countries that the second war was fought on, and England was not looking forward to being in the middle of the conflict. Lines were being drawn in the sand, and Elizabeth was sure that once again the Ally nations would be convening soon.

"Your Majesty, I'm sorry to bother you, but I have some pressing news that needs your attention. The President of the Soviet Union Mikhail Sergeyevich was assassinated twenty minutes ago and the KGB agents at the scene of the crime say that the United States was involved."

Tears welled up in the Queens eyes when she heard the terrible news and held her head in her hands. "Bring me the Prime Minister and the Minister for Magic; I fear that the time to act is now."

The servant to the monarch nodded and left at once with an anxious gait. 'This is not good at all. If the Western Empire really did strike back at Russia, we might see more than just war as a result.'

Queen Elizabeth stared out of her window and watched as the sun began to set on the horizon. The sphere of light in the sky was shining an ominous shade of red and looked as if blood was spilled across the sky.

By the time the Prime Minister had arrived at Buckingham Palace, all of England was on mandatory lock down and the entire military was ordered to return home post-haste. The many English bases around the world were left with Skeleton crews and on complete lockdown, letting no one in or out.

The Emissaries were on high alert as the world descended into madness. Reports of military movement off of the west coast of the United States started pouring in an hour into the meeting between the Monarch and democratically elected Minister.

As the Gears of War began turning, the Queen began to make preparations to break away from NATO and the EU. The Minister's and the Monarch of England planned for hours on what they were to do in light of the two deaths. "I refuse to support a country that would retaliate in such a way, that goes against our treaty with America and her people."

=+FoStA+=

The magical world was feeling the effects of the growing tension across the world after the double assassination. People were murmuring in fear of being drawn into the war like Grindlewald pulled them into the Second Great War.

Amelia Bones was nervous but for completely different reasons. She could remember the stories of the terrible weapons used on Japan during the world war, and if the Colonies and the Soviets didn't stop the massive fighting in the Pacific Ocean, Amelia feared that they would start launching ICBM's after the naval dogfight ceased.

The Wizengamot was in full attendance as the families gathered to listen to the verdict of the day's events from the Minister for Magic who had met with the Queen and Prime Minister that evening as the news of Mikhail Gorbachev's demise at the hands of the Americans.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, I have some very grim news for us. Due to the double assassination today, the United States and Russia have declared open war. As you know, mundane England has been allied with the West since the end of the second war. Due to the retaliation of their leader's death, Her Majesty the Queen along with the muggle Prime Minister and I have decided to leave the NATO and EU groups and not support the Colonies. Her Majesty has asked for our help to stabilize the mundane economies with any Gold we have to spare. Within the next two weeks, our Mundane and Magical countries will be locking ourselves away from the rest of the world until this conflict ends. That is all."

Dumbledore sat upon his seat lazily as he watched the patres familias and ladies of the houses panic at the news as though he was above such worrying. "If there are no other pressing matters, this meeting is adjourned. The 5629th Wizengamot session will commence in the morning at six."

With that the headmaster departed from the chambers and made his way to the apparition point, his mind going through every possible scenario of the war between East and West. With rumors of demons and dark creatures being summoned and a wide-spread criminal empire on the rise, Albus was worried about the future of 'his' country.

Dumbledore was positive Tom Riddle would be returning to the world and soon if the Albanian rumors were to be believed. He had lost contact with his agent Quirinus Quirrell who was sent to look into the dark creatures sighting, after last week the man hadn't reported back in.

Once back at Hogwarts, the manipulative man sat back in his office and pulled out a bottle of half-drank fire whiskey and immediately began to drink from the bottle. The past few years since his latest pet project died at the hands of his family have been unkind to the twinkly eyed man.

Minerva was slowly beginning to show signs of manipulations and Dumbledore was scared to keep her under for much longer, least they end up like Frank and Alice had after he had them under his control for too long. Dumbledore couldn't quite afford to replace his deputy headmistress, nor could he afford to lose control of one of his most valuable pawns.

'The paperwork isn't going to do itself, after all.' Albus thought to himself as he rose from his chair and pulled down a candelabrum that was to the right of his fireplace.

The wall behind it opened up to reveal a portrait of a sleeping man, the sound of snoring reaching Albus's ears as he attempted to wake the magical copy of his imprisoned friend and lover.

"Gellert. I have some terrible news, please wake up."

The portrait stirred for a moment before the sleeping man awoke; looking as though it was the first time he had awoken in years.

"Albus, it's been too long since you've last spoken with me. How goes the overthrowing the English Government?"

"It has been a long, arduous purpose. I find it harder and harder to masquerade as the 'Light Lord' as the years go on. Harry Potter has died and with that, my goal is only opposed by one more major obstacle. America and the USSR have begun open conflict due to a string of assassinations from this morning to this afternoon. Boris Yeltsin has succeeded Mikhail as 'president' of the soviet states, so the puppet government yourself and I installed is going to begin crumbling in a matter of days."

Gellert's portrait looked saddened at the revelation before shrugging his shoulders. "As long as you keep me imprisoned in Nurmengard, you know there is nothing I can do to help."

"If I were to release you this soon, the world would be on my heels like the hounds of Hell. It's too soon to tip my hand due to another conflict between the two empires." Dumbledore sighed as he took another long swig from his bottle.

"You know you can't kill this body off too soon, I am still in the prototype stages of our major project. The final products should be able to be occupied within the next three years. Do you think you can hold out until then?"

Albus nodded before rubbing his right arm where black marks had begun to spread from his hand. 'The wand still won't accept me as its rightful master. Just who owns it now that it has rejected me?'

"I should be able to manage. The pain is getting worse, but Slughorn makes me most delightful painkiller potions I've ever tasted. I'm glad Snape died in the 'Potters Day Massacre', Slughorn has always been so wonderful to talk to."

Gellert Grindlewald rolled his eyes before flipping Albus off. "You know I'm the only man you're allowed to Love."

The long term relationship between the two was a well-kept secret after their rather public 'fall out' no thanks to Albus's brother Aberforth and his only sister.

"Of course dear, but you know I get lonely without you here with me. How goes our other experiment?"

"The Longbottom boy? Completely under our thrall, he should make a fine replacement for your boy-who-lived. He has turned into an extremely arrogant child, but is still able to be molded into your 'Golden-Boy' like Harry was to become."

"Arrogant, hm? Perfect. And he will make Gryffindor, correct? Can't have another Tom Riddle Jr. on our hands, you can only play chess with so many people at once. Alright Gellert, I'm going to rest these old bones. I love you, sleep well dear."

Gellert smiled at the man before telling him to do likewise as the wall covering his two-way portrait began to close.

"Too much is spiraling out of control. What to do, what to do."

=+FoStA+=

The city of Epsom was completely deserted by the time Harry and Bellatrix returned to Asylum One. The Prime Minister had set a mandatory curfew for the entire United Kingdom and this city was no exception. From the Horizon, Harry watched as warplanes flew in formation in a show of 'power'.

Sirius was extremely upset that Harry had assassinated the two presidents, but it was his fault for telling Harry about the large contract that needed to be fulfilled. "Think of it like this, Sirius, your business booms when there is war, so be grateful."

Sirius bit back a scathing remark due to the look in Harry's eyes. "You do know that only works when it's MAGICALS at war, right? What possessed you to even do such a thing?!"

Harry let out a barking laugh before wiping his eyes of faux-tears. "You do realize that the Colonies and the Czarian Warlocks are going to get involved as well, right? The Hitwizards are being withdrawn from the Middle East and are to patrol our streets again like they did during World War Two."

"You mean those Assholes who detained me after I was framed for murdering those Muggles?" Sirius questioned as he sat down a stack of Papers on 'Itachi's desk. Itachi was currently in the USSR to impersonate and infiltrate the KGB and drain their assets to an offshore bank where it would be further rerouted through hundreds of banks before returning to the Akatsuki Gringotts vault.

"That's correct. If the Auror's are our Police, the Hitwizards can be described as our Military." Harry explained as his shuffled through the paperwork necessary to run an international criminal empire.

Sirius sat in the seat from in front of Harry and laid his head in his hands. "Harry, if they can't be used on the ground, how did they arrest me?"

"I think it was a rogue force under the control of Dumbledore. What color robes were they wearing?" Harry asked as he continued to leaf through the paperwork. "I believe they were black and red, why?"

"Well, they don't wear colored robes period. They wear camouflage robes. You should have learned that in Hogwarts, Sirius. You must have skipped that day or spent it scrubbing McGonagall's office or something. Anyways, you are going to need to be a bit more subtle about your transactions due to international tensions, the police forces of the world are going to be out in full force."

Sirius nodded slowly and pulled out his silver flask before taking a long drag from it. He grimaced as the liquid rolled down his throat and let out a harsh cough afterwards. "Why must you always make things so difficult for me, Harry? You were supposed to grow up to be such a nice boy…"

Harry stared at his godfather for a moment, weighing each response that came to his mind before settling on the least bitter sounding. "I have no need of being a 'nice boy' as you put it. I am simply a product of manipulations, and trust me; the world will reap what they sew. And Sirius, Don't ever question my motives again. My machinations are my own and if they ever concern you, I will let you know."

=+FoStA+=

Malfoy Manor was of exquisite taste with sound architecture and lush colors. Shades of green and silver lined the walls of the study Harry found himself in two weeks before the start of his first term. His Hogwarts letter had arrived on his eleventh birthday and the shopping was completed the next day, giving him the highest quality materials he could get his hands on.

"So, Mister Uchiha, what is it you hope to achieve with… this decision? Surely you know what you are asking of me and my family?" Lucius drawled as he swirled the glass of red wine in his hand lazily. The blond man refused to make eye contact with the 'Sharingan' wielder, most likely a habit he picked up from dealing with Dumbledore and Tommy for so long.

"Just as the letter says I hope to achieve. I want you to join my organization. In return, I will remove the dark mark and issue you a layer of defense to your manor. The only payment you will ever make is the Diary of Tom Riddle Jr."

Lucius lightly sipped his wine as he leaned back in his chair a bit, his expression completely unreadable as he seemingly stared into space. "Can you tell me the significance behind the journal before I come to a decision?"

Harry and Bellatrix both adopted a thoughtful look at the question, though they were communicating mentally thanks to their newest creation. A small piece of metal with compressed seals and runes carved into it were surgically implanted into each of their right ears by Itachi the day after they completed Harry's school shopping.

The seals allowed for communications via electrons and memories transferred from one seal to another, and the runes were of a medical nature so that their bodies wouldn't reject their newest 'piercing'.

'Do you think we should completely ruin the image of Tommy boy in his eyes or just give him the gist of it?' Harry asked Bellatrix through their mental link while on the outside he tapped his fingers against his arm rest in an impatient pattern.

'Ruin him. Ruin him, master, please.' Bellatrix pleaded as she adopted a cold visage. The lack of reaction disturbed the psychotic woman but she didn't let it show.

"Tom Marvolo Riddle Jr. is a Half-Blood born to a wealthy Muggle and the near-squib Merope Gaunt," Harry began as he spelled out Tom's name in the air, "Better known as 'Lord Voldemort'. That was his diary when he was still attending Hogwarts."

Toms name began to rearrange itself before spelling out 'I am Lord Voldemort'. "The diary is a Horcrux. If one were to write in it, they would eventually be possessed by a teenage version of the third Dark Lord."

Lucius scoffed and stared down at his left arm in noticeable loathing. "So the diary was his all along. How did I not see this?"

"Tom is a very cunning man, almost the embodiment of the Slytherin house itself. He used your fears and your hatred against you, enslaved you to a cause that you otherwise would have avoided due to your public image, however bad it might be. Am I correct?"

The Malfoy Paterfamilias nodded before setting down his empty glass, having downed it in one gulp before he stood abruptly. He walked calmly to a random floor board and tapped it twice with his cane that was placed next to his chair. The floorboard slid away to reveal a small cavern in the floor, the Horcrux lying there undisturbed as it was the day it was placed there.

Lucius tapped the floorboard again and walked to where he was sitting. After placing the diary on the small table between Harry, Bellatrix and himself, the blond man rolled his left sleeve and exposed his dull Dark Mark to the other man. "Remove it. If you can truly remove it, I will join your organization as a member, not a slave. I have achieved much since the fall of Voldemort and I would like to keep it that way."

Harry smiled before placing his hand over the mark. A few moments after Harry started weaving his magic in the reverse pattern of the intricately woven protean charm, the skull and snake visage was pulled from Lucius's arm in a smoky green and black mass.

Bellatrix produced a large stone from her sleeve that was covered in fuinjutsu. The Malfoy didn't notice the stone or much of anything at the moment. The man was screaming while clutching his now bare arm, perspiration covering the man's face quickly from the pain.

The smoky mass was sealed away into the stone, which was in turn sealed away in Bellatrix's left wrist. She grinned and sent Harry a stray thought through their connection. 'Fuinjutsu is so handy master! Thank you for teaching me this wonderful art!'

Harry rolled his eyes before holding a golden potion out to Lucius. "This is a powerful nerve healing potion mixed with an even stronger pain killer. I have enough for any who want that mark removed from them. For a price, of course, nothing in this treacherous world is free after all."

Lucius eyed the potion for a moment before the pain got the better of him. He downed the liquid much like he did the wine and within moments was able to stand and wipe the sweat from his brow.

"That has to have been the most delectable potion I've ever consumed. Who made it?" Lucius asked with a raised brow. His wife may have been a potions mistress, but that doesn't mean her concoctions were pleasant to the tongue or stomach.

"A personal creation of mine. Once we solidify your position within Akatsuki, you will be more than welcome to the recipes after taking an oath to secrecy. We are not going to enslave you, wipe the look from your face Lucius, you look preposterous."

Lucius scoffed before schooling his features. "What are the benefits to this organization, what will I have to give up for a position?"

Harry and Bella shared a look again before the Black spoke up. "Power beyond Wizard comprehension and access to what will be the most expansive and thoroughly guarded fortress as well as your family members. Techniques can be created for your exclusive use, you ARE mind-walkers, correct?" Bellatrix mused as she glanced down at her fingernails.

As she inspected her digits, the blond had paled before nodding his head. "That is not public information. How did you come to know that?"

Harry spoke up before Bella could come up with an excuse. "We know much, Lucius. With an information network like our own, it would surprise me if there was something about you we didn't know."

Lucius didn't look comfortable with that revelation but nodded his head slowly. "We are very adept at Mind Magicks, whether it is Legilimency, Occlumency or even illusions."

The three continued to discuss the terms of membership into the elusive group before the deal was finally struck. Lucius would join as one of the nine main members of the group and when his son came of age would also be allowed a position in the organization.

The procedure and explanation of Chakra and its many intricacies would be discussed in the following evening as the final phase of initiation and by the time Harry and Draco made their appearance at Hogwarts, the Malfoy family crest would be displayed proudly in the Chamber of Gathering as Harry lovingly named his first meeting room. Using subtle manipulation brought so much joy to Harry.

=+FoStA+=

The last day before leaving for Kings Cross Station was spend preparing himself for the coming travesty that was sure to befall him. There has yet to be a year at Hogwarts since Dumbledores ascendance to Headmaster that something dramatic and consequential hasn't happened, and Harry wasn't about to bet otherwise. 'It's like the man has nothing better to do than torment children under a grandfatherly visage. It makes me sick to even think of, and I've seen some very disgusting things in my century.'

Harry was looking forward to his time at the school, but at the same time was trying to justify not going all together. Dealing with immature children for months on end was not something he wanted to do, but in the name of progress, Harry would get through it. Alliances between neutral, dark and light families are not going to make themselves after all.

One thousand Kunai were stored in the boy's right wrist and two thousand shuriken in his left. A Chokuto was secured in his forearm and left as the only item in the seal for emergency situations. Explosive tags, flash tags, a few thousand senbon and a large amount of rations were sealed away as were the rest of his shinobi possessions.

With his trunk packed and his potion stores topped off, Harry was as ready for Hogwarts as the school was ready for him. Though, now that he thought about it, it wasn't a common occurrence in the wizardry world that people walked on the ceilings or used 'muggle' science as a weapon. Harry liked to think he had the upper hand, but he knew better than to assume that he had one up on Dumbledore.

The entrance to Kings Cross was extremely crowded with muggles and magicals intermixed. With keen eyes, Harry was able to spot a troop of redheads being marched along by a mother goose. The girl looked to be sullen but the rest of the gangly family was as happy as the occasion called for.

"Remember Ron; don't listen to a word your older brothers say. If you have a problem, owl me and I can give whomever the worst howler they will ever receive!" The plump woman said loudly as she tugged on her youngest sons cheeks. Harry noted how the twins carried themselves and listened in on their whispered conversation thanks to chakra-enforced hearing.

'Perfect, a pair of pranksters to help test out a few of my more childish products.' Harry thought to himself before making a note to avoid the rest of the family like the plague. The youngest named Ron was acting like too much of a brat for Harry's taste and could tell the boy lacked any tact by the look on his face.

Thanks to Meseigakure, Harry was able to slip into the train and seat himself on the ceiling of one of the empty compartments after securing his robes and place a slight charm on the door to stop all but the most adamant of children from entering.

Harry watched with his mutated Sharingan as the students congregated in the hallways and tried as hard as he could to memorize as many faces and magical signatures as he could with his close to eidetic memory. 'As thankful as I am for this ability, I really wish I had the memorization perk.'

The train started moving shortly after the students began to settle themselves and almost an hour later before he was disturbed from his meditation. A crying girl with bushy hair burst into the 'empty' compartment with her trunk in tow. The trunk was in tatters to the point of not being able to be fixed using the standard Reparo incantation taught in the first year's school books.

The crying girl sat herself down and pulled a book out of the ruined trunk before opening its pages reverently. Using his enhanced sight, Harry peered down at the title of the book as shown on the index. 'Harry Potter and the rise and fall of the Dark Lord? I knew this world loved me, but are there not laws about libel?'

The bushy haired first year began to mumble to herself. "He can't be dead. He survived a killing curse. These WIZARDS don't know what they're talking about!" She spat to herself as she continued to flip through the pages of the mostly fiction book.

Harry was beside himself when he translated the girls mumbling. 'Why does it matter if I'm alive or dead to this girl?' The girl continued to rant that her hero wouldn't abandon the magical world at the hands of a muggle, and Harry was amused at how correct the girl was. 'It seems this one has logic.'

The shinobi began to weigh the options of revealing himself to her when he came to a conclusion. Silently he dropped from the roof and removed the Meseigakure technique, though the girl didn't look up from her book to notice.

Harry coughed slightly after parting his hair a bit to expose his scar. Harry wore the same garb as when he introduced himself to Sirius, though the purple cloth was replaced for a black cloth with the Akatsuki clouds dotting it.

The girl jumped at hearing Harry's light cough before her head shot up to look at the person clearing their throat. Before her was one of the most attractive boys she had ever seen, though she was a little confused when she noticed his eyes and the marking around them. Long black hair was pulled into a loose ponytail while two long locks of hair framed the boy's face.

Her eyes traveled his face and took in his features before locking onto the lightning bolt scar. A gasp broke the relative silence as she lurched forward to get a better look at the mark that marred Harry's forehead.

"You-you… you're not dead!" The prepubescent girl shouted as she wiped the tears from her eyes, a bright blush spreading across her face. Harry smiled lightly at the girl before nodding his head. "They are going to have to try a little harder than that to get rid of me."

The girl stammered for a second before finally blurting out. "I'm Hermione Granger; it is very nice to meet you Harry! I'm a huge fan you see; when I heard the stories of the Boy-Who-Lived I bought all of the books I could find on you, you're a hero! The other kids kept making fun of me because I didn't believe that you died…" Hermione had practically broken down by this point, her voice becoming hysterical.

Harry could tell that the girl had been bullied most of her life if the way she clutched the book to her chest was any indication. Quite a few Ravenclaw students of Tom's time had the same habit, as if holding the book as a lifeline would protect them from their tormentors. Using a bit of Legilimency may have been a tad bit much, but Harry wasn't going to lose sleep over it. 'She needs a friend, obviously. She is very intelligent if her ramblings and thoughts are anything to go by…'

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Miss Granger," Harry began as he reached out and kissed the back of her hand, "I hope we can become good friends. I'm keeping a low profile until they call my name from the roster, you see, I've been in hiding ever since I escaped my vile families and Dumbledore's clutches."

Hermione looked taken aback at Harry's words, "But Professor Dumbledore is a very good-"

"Hermione, if there is one thing I've found out since I escaped; it is that Dumbledore is NOT a very good man. He stole my money, my childhood, my family and almost my life. He has much to atone for."

The bushy haired girl was silent as Harry talked and began to question him for a more elaborate answer. By the end of the train ride, she had become thoroughly disgusted with the man who abused his position of authority too much for the girl to respect. "I'll help you in any way I can, Harry; you're the first person to even take the time to talk to me…"

Harry smiled his most reassuring smile before tapping the girl on the forehead with his fore finger. "Hey, we are… friends now, don't be so down on yourself. If you're going to help me, you are going to need more confidence." The girl blushed before nodding her head meekly.

Harry told her not to be surprised if he randomly disappeared and told her that he would be right beside her the whole time. To prove his point, the boy vanished before tapping her on the shoulder though she didn't see him doing it. "How did you do THAT? The book 'Enchanting and its many uses' said that Invisibility was only able to be used on cloth weaved of either Thestral tail hair or Unicorn fur!"

"It was simply Magic, my dear. Very, very advanced magic." Harry quipped as he looked into the corridor. The passageways between compartments were being patrolled by Prefects, though the closer they got to Hogwarts the more students began to wander around. The lady pushing the trolley completely bypassed the compartment Harry and Hermione were holed up in, though Harry didn't mind in the least.

The boy unsealed two bottles of juice made from his everbearing fruit trees and ration bars before handing Hermione one of each. The two continued to talk and get to know one another before they heard the prefect in the hall call for students to get dressed in their school uniforms and for the first years to leave their trunks in the compartments.

Hermione sighed as she looked at her ruined trunk as if there was no hope. Harry rolled his sleeve up and unsealed his spare trunk from the seal towards his elbow. The great thing about the seals that Harry uses is that they were created with invisible ink and graphed into his skin, so that if he lost a chunk of flesh with a seal on it, the seal would regrow with his skin permanently.

'Science, you never fail to amuse me.' Harry thought as he watched Hermione's eyes bulge at the sight of him pulling a trunk from his sleeve. "Magic, Hermione. If you prove yourself someone worthy of my secrets, then you too might be able to do what I do." He spoke before the girl could question him too much. Harry helped his new bushy haired friend gather her belongings and cast another wandless spell, this time using permanent transfiguration to change both of them into their uniforms.

Hermione at this point just pouted and held a book close to her chest at not being able to show off her skills in magic, "Harry, where did you learn all of this? Wandless magic isn't even in Hogwarts curriculum, I would know if it was!"

The boy just shrugged his shoulders before telling her it was just one of those secrets she would have to earn his trust for. Hermione didn't seem too bothered by what he said though Harry could tell that she was mentally stuffing her foot in her mouth.

Harry disappeared once the students began to mill off the train, using his Invisibility technique and walked along the ceilings directly above Hermione. The Sage had to restrain himself from skewering a pudgy boy carrying a toad and Ron after they shoved Hermione out of their way and started calling her a 'stupid bookworm who can't accept the truth'.

The first years were guided into old wooden boats that lined the murky lake just outside of Hogwarts walls. Harry didn't bother climbing into the rickety boats and stepped onto the water, keeping himself afloat with the water-walking technique any shinobi beyond academy students knew.

Hermione looked distressed at not seeing the boy-who-lived but was confident that he wasn't a figment of her imagination. The clothing and robes she wore were of much higher quality than the ones she currently owned, thus reaffirming the boys existence in her mind.

Harry couldn't help but smile as he watched the girl nod to herself randomly as he could probably guess at what she was thinking. After a moment of thought, Harry grinned to himself before deciding to cause some havoc.

Using suiton manipulation, the transcendent wizard summoned a small whip of water that he used to pull the pudgy boy from earlier and Ron into the water before they could realize what was happening. The students in the boats surrounding the two little menaces laughed at the two boys' plight.

They soon reached the underside of Hogwarts, an entrance that leads up from the dungeons if Harry's memories were correct. The students were lined up and led in by the stern woman wearing crimson robes. 'Minerva McGonagall, Transfigurations professor. Stern and overly protective of her cubs.' Harry mused as he hopped from the ground and stuck to the ceiling. He followed the students as much as he could before he was forced to drop from the ceiling so that he could enter the Great Hall through the double doors.

First years poured in through the doors as the students who already attended Hogwarts for longer than a year sat at their House tables. Thousands of candles floated in mid-air, suspended by tiny threads of magic that coiled around each individual light source.

The first years gasped at the twinkling stars that stared down at them from the bewitched ceiling of the Great Hall, seeming as though there was no roof over their heads to protect them from the weather outside.

McGonagall called the students to attention with a sharp command, though Harry was more occupied with staring down Dumbledore for the first time through his own eyes. The twinkly eyed man was unaware of Harry's presence but the moment the hat stopped singing it would be time to play ball.

One by one student's were called up to be sorted by the enchanted headpiece. Shouts of 'Gryffindor', 'Slytherin', 'Hufflepuff' and 'Ravenclaw' echoed through the expansive room interchangeably. The students were being called in an odd order, by their first names rather than their last names.

Soon enough, it was time to reveal himself to the school and magical world beyond. "Harry Potter?" McGonagall called in dazed confusion at seeing the boy's name on the list. 'Why would a dead boy's name be on this list?' Before she could compose herself and call out the next name, a boy with long black hair literally appeared out of thin air before her.

The elderly woman stared at the boy in shock, having taken a few steps back at his eyes. 'He has the same eyes as Lily, though there is something… off about them. Is he wearing Makeup?'

Harry coughed into his hand before looking around the large room and taking in the looks on everyone's faces. "You look nothing like Harry, who are you?" Minerva finally asked as she stepped forward with the Sorting Hat clutched firmly in her hands. Harry sighed before drawing his wand.

"I, Harry James Potter, do solemnly swear I am in fact the son of James and Lily Potter and am not amongst the dead. So mote it be." Golden light erupted from his wand and circled around him before disappearing all together. "As you can see, the rumors around my death are certainly false.

Murmurs began to echo throughout the chamber, a few members of the first years yet to be sorted turned and looked at Hermione due to the fact that she was the only person to say he was still alive.

"Harry... I'm so sorry for what has happened to you. How did you survive those terrible monsters?" Minerva asked as she sent scathing looks towards Dumbledore, whose face was completely drained of color and wiped blank of expression. The twinkle in his eyes were absent for the first time that Harry could recall, likely indicating the firm grip the man was maintaining over his monstrous magical reserves instead of letting it leak like normal.

"Now is not the time for that, Professor. If you would like to approach me after the sorting ceremony, we can talk then. Now then, may we proceed?" Harry inquired after setting himself down on the intricate stool regally. Harry began to use a wide area genjutsu to make it easier for people to see him as 'untouchable', even if it was only temporarily. Harry sent a lazy look over his shoulders at the manipulative headmaster and sent a powerful reverse-legilimens probe directly into Albus's mind.

'You can't manipulate me any longer you deluded fool of a Dark Lord. Your days are numbered, mark my words.' The look on Dumbledores face was priceless, Harry having activated his Sharingan and hid it under a genjutsu so that he could view this memory in his pensieve over and over at his leisure.

Minerva seemed to snap from her reverie and nodded at her would-be Godson. After setting the hat down gently on his head, she took a few steps back to admire the boy she thought was dead.

'He looks absolutely nothing like his mother. Something about him seems terribly familiar, but just what is it?' Minerva asked herself as she watched the Sorting Hats face scrunch up in confusion for a moment.

Inside of Harry's head, the enchanted sorting hat was pilfering through three sets of memories and stumbling across more dark secrets and others not so much more so than he had in any other student.

'You are a very, very complicated man, aren't you Mister Potter? To have lived a life in a completely different dimension, how did you even go about that?' The hat asked as he continued to view the boys 'life' so far. 'I've already sorted you once years and years ago, but that's just not possible. Tell me, what form of Sorcery is this?'

Harry shrugged his shoulders at the hats questions before answering it in his head. 'I don't know, honestly. It was only due to my mothers' ritual and loving sacrifice that I'm even alive. Can you do me a favor, Alistair?' Harry questioned as he continued to stare out at the crowd of murmuring students and shocked faces.

'How did you- never mind. You may ask, but some things I cannot do. Oh, you mean for your friend. Yes, we will see if she has the same qualities as you. There is no doubt in my mind you will either bring this world into a new age or lead it to ruin. With ambition and cunning in such large amounts, there is no other choice than-'

"Slytherin!" The hat roared as Harry's robes changed to match that of his new house mates. The green and silver crest adorned his chest and the blank tie transformed to match it. At the announcement of Harry's placement, the student and staff body went completely silent as he rose from the chair and walked calmly across the Great Hall to where he would be eating for the next seven years.

The students at the Slytherin table gave the boy a wide birth as he continued to give of the same aura as he did when he sat down. It wasn't a cold 'don't come towards me', it was more of a 'I'm on a level beyond your comprehension' kind of air.

A blond boy surrounded by two rather large and dull looking boys walked up to Harry and stuck his hand out to shake. "My name is Draco Malfoy; it's a pleasure to meet someone of such high esteem. I'm glad that you made it into this wonderful house like the rest of the best." The Malfoy began as Harry gripped his hand in a firm but friendly shake. "Harry Potter, it is nice to meet you, Draco. Come, would you like to sit with me?"

The three boys sat directly across from Harry and began to engage in small talk ranging from Quidditch to the latest and greatest brooms on the market. "My father purchased me a Nimbus 2000, but the old codger Dumbles has a strict restraint on first years bringing their own brooms."

Harry scoffed before leaning across the table as if letting him in on a secret. "Give me a week and I can have you one here, hell, I'll get the entire Slytherin house the best brooms I can if it will piss off Albus-too-many-names-Dumblydork."

Harry tuned out of the conversation for a moment once he heard Hermione's name called for sorting. He was almost positive that the girl would either end up in Ravenclaw or Gryffindor, but when the sorting hat called out 'Slytherin' much like it had for him, the first years were all shocked.

"This is the first time in decades we have a 'mudblood' in our house. Pure filth, they are." Draco bit out as the girl quickly walked towards Harry. Harry scooted over and patted the seat next to him while sending an extremely concentrated blast of killing intent at Draco. "You say those words in front of me again and you will lose your tongue. Hermione is now under the protection of Akatsuki and me. I'm sure your father filled you in on his latest… business venture, correct?"

Draco paled dramatically at the words and began to sputter an apology to Hermione after looking at the ring that adorned Harry's left little finger. The ring was rather large and consisted of black steel with red clouds that indicated the red dawn etched into it. On the front of the ebony and crimson ring was a jewel with the Kanji for void, or Ku, in slate blue.

Draco was smart enough not to mess with a higher ranking member in the organization as he had only received a necklace depicting the trademark crimson cloud. The necklace would double as a distress beacon and tracking devise that his father and the leaders of Akatsuki could use to track him down or find him if he got into trouble.

"I'm very sorry; I didn't know I was speaking to such a high ranking member. It won't happen again, I promise." Draco hated, no loathed having to apologize for anything, but his father had made it very clear that he was NOT to attempt to bully or make enemies with anyone bearing the rings of Akatsuki like himself. His father his ring on the right index finger, the ring representing the color Blue, while the jewel is teal.

Harry nodded as he introduced Hermione to Draco, Crabbe and Goyle respectively. The bushy haired girl nodded her head to each of the three but did not speak to either of them after hearing their derogatory terms for when she approached.

"Hermione, I would have figured you for the Ravenclaw type. You do realize that Muggleborn are very seldom sorted in the house of the snake, correct?" Harry inquired as he heard the headmaster give his silly little speech as if nothing was wrong in the world and begin the start-of-term feast.

The other Slytherin students were eyeballing the odd pair as they laughed and joked about logic and how it didn't apply to most magic while the other three tried to maintain a face of authority after being publically cowed by his senior officer. 'I'm not going to make that mistake again. Father said that the ranking members were far more powerful than your average witch or wizard…'

Little did they know that this year would be unlike any other Hogwarts had seen in a very, very long time.


	6. Descent into the Blackened Forest

From one Snake to Another

Chapter 6, Descent into the darkened Forest

I do not own ANYTHING related to either Naruto or Harry Potter.

To reviews: Elspeth, that was a very enlightening review. Harry WILL be kind and show his affections to those who care about him, but you have to remember that he has more memories of being Orochimaru and Voldemort than he does of being Harry at this point. As time goes on he will lighten up to his friends and comrades, but this instigation of World War is something to progress the story from beyond England. He didn't start it for shits and giggles; I'll go ahead and say that. Harry will be DARK, not evil.

=+FoStA+=

The feast was of wonderful quality and the pumpkin juice was delectable. Harry, Hermione and Draco continued to make small talk after Harry reprimanded the blond boy, though the three acted as if the situation never happened.

Harry knew that Dumbledore and the rest of the entire Grand Hall were staring holes into the back of his head, but he didn't mind in the least. The looks ranged from reverence and adoration from the Ravenclaw's and Hufflepuff's, but his own house and Gryffindor were sending him a great deal of hatred via ocular transference.

After his sorting, McGonagall has been avoiding even looking at the child. 'Very peculiar.' Harry thought to himself in He continued to scan the professors' tables with his Sharingan, trying to see how far he must climb before standing before the Titans of the magical world on fair grounds.

Three of the heads of house were ensnared under Dumbledores thrall, though Rubeus Hagrid and Professor Flitwick were not. 'Physiological difference must be the reason. Flitwick is descendent from a Goblin, and Hagrid is a half Giant.' Harry thought to himself as he tore his gaze from the table. 'Tonight, I will retrieve the Diadem. No sense in lazing when there is so much to do.'

Crabbe, Goyle and the rest of the house ate in absolute silence though a few did glance at him every so often as if not believing he was really sitting there. Towards the end of the meal, the trio plus two were approached by fellow Slytherins, students of the same year if their gait was anything to go by.

The girl of the two was of Asian descent with dark hair, pale skin and shockingly purple eyes. Her robes were finely crafted though not of artisan quality much like his, Draco's and Hermione's. The boy had dark skin, hair and eyes though he had an air about him that spoke of his intelligence.

"Hello, Potter. My name is Yurika Haneda and this is Blaise Zabini, may we sit and speak with you for a moment?" The girl, now identified as Yurika, inquired as she eyed the unoccupied spot to Harry's left. The son of Lily nodded before beckoning them to sit in a grandiose fashion.

"Of course, Haneda-san. O genkidesu ka?" Harry asked in perfect Japanese which shocked the young girl and those sitting around Harry. "Watashi wa yoku yatte iru, Shitsumon o Arigatogozaimashita." Yurika replied after taking a sip of pumpkin juice. The girl carried herself in a way that made Harry's sixth sense of danger go off.

"You speak with a perfect accent; did you spend any time in Japan, Potter?" Zabini inquired as he bit into a sweetroll, careful not to get any icing on his robes or face as he did so. Ms. Zabini at one point had a Japanese husband who had attempted to teach Blaise the language of his homeland, but Blaise was confused by the expansive alphabet at that age and didn't see it proper to learn. The man had disappeared from the Zabinis' life so suddenly, much like the rest of his mother's husbands.

"No, it's nothing like that. I am just a very fast learner. You could say I have just as much experience speaking Japanese as I do English." Harry drawled as he took small bites of the vegetable lo mein noodles that the house elves had prepared.

Discretely, Harry unsealed a single senbon needle from his inner left seal with a small pulse of chakra and stuck it to his inner arm to be accessed easily with the leaf-sticking ability academy students were taught after the leaf floating exercise.

The senbon needles were coated in a very light paralyzing agent that he himself was immune to. It useful only for getting out of sticky situations after a moments distraction as it only targeted nerve clusters associated with movement of the lower and upper limbs. The agent couldn't even be considered a poison if scrutinized under microscope or magic thanks to the trace amounts of chakra that metabolize the left over chemical quickly and disperse it via exhalation of carbon dioxide.

The group of students bought the explanation easily considering just who he was and the odds he faced. "So what did you wish to speak with me for, Haneda-san?" Harry asked after he finished his noodles and began munching on a stick of Yakitori while he awaited his answer. Watching the girl from the corner of his eyes while eating and making it look casual was a bit unnerving to Harry. 'Just who is this girl?'

"I noticed the way you carry yourself. A few members of my family have the same gait." Yurika didn't elaborate on the subject and she didn't need to. 'She must come from one of the surviving Shinobi clans of Japan. Formidable warriors indeed, even with the lack of Chakra.'

"So you noticed that. You have very keen eyes, Haneda-san, very keen eyes indeed." Harry spoke at last as he finished his meal. He turned to look his housemate in the eyes, letting her get a good view of the emerald orbs. Slitted pupils like a snakes surrounded by three Tomoe stared back at Yurika, who was startled at the symbol of the Emperor imprinted on his eyes. 'We will speak on this later, girl. Midnight.' Harry sent her a brief message with his Sharingan.

Blaise was confused by the silent conversation between the two Japanese speaking students. The dark Italian boy looked at Hermione with a raised brow to which she demurely shrugged her shoulders. The Muggleborn witch tried to maintain the same image Harry had imposed upon the hundreds of people gathered in the Great Hall for the Sorting Ceremony, though she was only able to emulate the physicality behind it and not the genjutsu.

Dessert came and went without incident for the five, excluding Crabbe and Goyle who had shifted off towards the other end of the table when Draco sent them away at Harry's behest.

Hermione seemed to be thoroughly enjoying herself with the semi-friendly banter, though had to force herself to stop regurgitating information after Harry gently nudged her during one of her rants.

The feast finally came to a close as the professors for the four houses led their new and old students to their common rooms. In Slytherins case, Professor Slughorn cheerfully gathered the children and rallied them towards the dungeon while engaging in conversation with a few sixth years about one thing or another.

Harry walked amongst the same group he ate with as they too engaged in light conversation while they trekked through the mighty castle. "What do you suppose our schedule is going to be like, Harry?" Hermione asked as they rounded the final corner before reaching the entrance to the Slytherin common room. "I'll tell you when we get settled." Harry responded as he looked around the hall in slight adoration.

"Viper." Slughorn intoned loudly so that the rest could hear before the walls spread apart to allow the many new and old students to walk into the underwater room. The large chamber was cast in a green light thanks to the light filtering in from the windows around the room and the strange glowing orbs that adorned the ceiling.

"Welcome to your new homes, my fellow snakes! This is where you will be spending much of your time either for Homework or making friends, or if you're anything like me, alliances. We must all stand united in the face of the other three houses, and must always watch each other's backs. The world does not understand us or our views, this much is true; however we know ourselves and we stand together in the face of hardship. Slytherin is for the ambitious, but do not let ambition lead you to ruin. Slytherin is for the cunning, and if each and every one of you was not cunning then you would not be here." Slughorn announced as the first years began to spread out and marvel at the beautiful room.

"My office is always open to those who seek advice or help in any situation. As Head of the Slytherin House, I am a certified potions master and knowledgeable on the… darker arts if you will. I hope that each and every one of you will one day achieve greatness, and I will do everything I can to see it happen. Have a good evening and no uncontrolled fighting, we Snakes must nest together peacefully if we are to survive."

And with that, the head of Slytherin departed through the entrance and left the students to their own devices. 'Odd, the man is usually more… sociable. Is he too under Dumbledores thrall?' Harry asked himself as he reviewed his memories of the man and how this most recent interaction raised all sorts of red flags for Harry.

Hermione seemed completely out of place as she stared out at the common room with her head slightly slumped forward. The Sage walked towards her and tapped her on the shoulder. "They said we couldn't explore the third floor, but they didn't say the seventh was off limits. Come; let me show you something truly spectacular."

After the two checked on their belongings in their resting chambers and slipping away from their other three companions, Harry having to guide Hermione through the halls lest they get lost. Harry had an advantage over most of the first years, and that's his knowledge of the ins and outs of the castle before even setting foot in it.

The bushy haired Muggleborn was flabbergasted at Harry's intimate knowledge of the school but decided not to question it. 'It must be one of those secrets he keeps.' Hermione thought to herself as they finally reached the seventh floor.

"Harry… it looks like a dead end?" The girl stated in confusion. "What is supposed to be up here?"

Harry began to pace before a blank wall, making three passes before an ornate door appeared spontaneously. Hermione bit back a gasp as Harry opened the pristinely carved door decorated by gold and silver and beckoned her inside.

Massive piles of different objects lay scattered about the expansive room, some in good shape and others beyond repair. Quills, trunks, beakers and other miscellaneous supplies lay scattered abroad, though glittering objects of all sorts lay obscured in the piles.

"This is the Come and Go room as the elves call it, The Room of Requirement to the Wizards and Witches. The House Elves store the junk or lost objects here from hundreds of years' worth of students. Be careful with the objects, some of them are sentient, some malicious and some benign. Do not touch anything with your bare hands, at least." Harry groused as he conjured a pair of two slim ebony gauntlets.

A quick featherlight charm later and Harry handed the two beautiful pieces of armor to Hermione for her to wear while they searched through the piles. The protective gloves reached to just before her elbow, the inside being insulated with fine silk if the feeling was anything to go by. On the back of the gauntlets was the emblem of a single red lined cloud obscuring a crimson moon. "Thank you very much for these Harry. How long will they last?" Hermione inquired as she slipped the gauntlets over her hands and securing them with straps lining the insides. "Permanently, Hermione. Conjuration is one of my specialties."

"Now, just where is that Diadem located?" Harry mused to himself as the two began to wander the room. The boy-who-endures was looking for a specific place marker left by the Heir of Slytherin, his ever vigilant eyes scanning through the magical objects and litter looking for the specific glow of a Horcrux.

After twenty minutes of searched, the two pulled an jewelry box from one of the piles and brought it to the floor instead of high in the pile. "Hermione, I'm going to need you to step back for a moment, please. This is a very, very dangerous piece of work." Harry requested as his hands lit up with the glow of purple and white chakra.

The fragment of Voldemorts soul gave a valiant effort but it was for naught as Harry mercilessly pulled the shard from the Diadem of Rowena Ravenclaw and crushed it in his hand. White and black orbs surrounded Harry's arm before springing into his body and disappearing. The Sage wiped the persperatioin from his brow, exhaustion hitting him in a wave after removing such an obscenely gnarled piece of magic from the delicately weaved enchantments on Rowena's Diadem.

"Harry… What was that? Why did that orb scream?" Hermione questioned franticly as she kneeled by Harry's side and braced him from falling down. "A magic so foul that even I won't use, Hermione. It was just one more step before I can annihilate Voldemort once and for all." Harry admitted in a panting tone as he sat down roughly on the ground before assuming a meditative seating. Hermione wasn't concerned until she saw pale purple and green 'flames' of light appear around the boy extending inches from his skin.

Harry breathed out deeply as he rose from his stance before placing the Diadem back in its box and stuffing it in his sleeve to seal away. The two continued to pilfer through the large piles of objects for half an hour before they decided to call it a day and return to the dungeons. They had managed to procure two enchanted daggers of small size, their blades to never rust or lose their edge and the ability to shrink or grow at the whim of the wielder. Harry didn't need the daggers and told Hermione to always keep them on her person after promising her that he would teach her to use them.

After departing from the Room of Requirement, they ran into the Defense against the Dark Arts professor, Kingsley Shacklebolt, on the fourth on their way to Ravenclaw Tower to return the Diadem to its rightful place.

"Hello, Mr. Potter, how are you doing? I am Kingsley Shacklebolt, Professor of Defense against the Dark Arts." The dark skinned man introduced himself as he bent slightly to get a better view at the much shorter children. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Sir. Is there something I can help you with?" Harry asked politely as Hermione stood behind the boy quietly.

If the headmaster of this school was willing to sink to such low levels and still remain in power, there was no telling with everyone else. Most of what she read in Hogwarts, A History was very useful, but after being told of the man's true nature, Hermione began to question everything she read about the magical world.

"I just wanted to introduce myself to you is all. For the longest time we all thought you were dead, Mr. Potter. How did you survive and where have you been?" The tall man coaxed as he tried to lightly interrogate the boy. Harry flashed a bit of his Killing Intent at the man before leveling his cool gaze on him.

"That is none of your concern, Auror Shacklebolt. If there is no other need to commune, good day." Harry bit out as he grabbed Hermione's right arm gently and pulled her away with him. "Let us depart, Hermione, lest we forget our manners like others have."

=+FoStA+=

"Where ever did you find this, Mr. Potter?" Professor Flitwick inquired in his squeaky voice as he peered at the once lost Diadem of Rowena Ravenclaw herself, capable of boosting the intelligence and keenness of mind for those who might wear the ornate crown. Legends told of its abilities and only few have ever sought it out.

"I just happened across it, we shall say. I thought it would be more prudent for it to be in its rightful place, rather than displaced like it was." Harry spoke as he gazed around the tiny professors office. The room was designed to look more of a library than an office, something that made Hermione practically jump in joy the moment she saw it.

"Happened across it, of course. Either way, I thank you profusely for this kind act, Harry. You have done this house a mighty favor indeed. I will speak with the Grey Lady and let her know at once. If you ever need me, my office is always open to the two of you." The professor squeaked in excitement as he grabbed the treasure with a reverent hold and rushed off to goodness knows where.

"That was… Anticlimactic." Hermione admitted after a moment of the two standing there in stunned silence. Harry seemed to have snapped himself out of his daze with a slight shake of the head before turning on his heels to return to the Slytherin common room. Hermione followed after him after gazing at the many tomes of written knowledge adorning the bookcases around the room. 'Another time. Wait, there is a LIBRARY HERE!'

=+FoStA+=

Long after Hermione had gone to her room to rest, Harry was still sitting in the common room directly across from the fireplace, seemingly lost in thought. His emerald and golden flecked eyes stared deeply into the flames as if they held the secrets to life itself. The sound of soft footfalls alerted Harry to Yurika's approach. "Just who or what are you, Potter?" the girl of Asian descent asked as she seated herself in the silver and green chair a few feet to his right.

"That is a question I cannot answer, for I do not know myself. I am more than meets the eyes, that much is certain. Tell me, what do you know of Shinobi?" Harry inquired without tearing his eyes from the fireplace. Yurika didn't answer for a few moments as if choosing her answer wisely.

"They are an ancient order of warriors dating back to the feudal period. Most of the clans and their knowledge were wiped out during World War Two, though a few clans still exist in between the muggle and magical Japan." The Haneda spoke up after a few moments of deliberation.

"That is correct, Haneda-san, and Incorrect at the same time." Harry vaguely noted as he rose from his sitting position. "In time, maybe I will tell you more. Until then, I have business to attend to. Goodnight, Haneda-san." And with that, Harry vanished into thin air which startled the girl greatly. 'He is of a Shinobi Clan, of that I have no doubt. I must tell father at once.' Yurika frantically thought to herself as she rushed to her chambers to write to her father.

=+FoStA+=

'The Forbidden Forest is aptly named, though it is no more intimidating than the Forest of Death.' Harry thought to himself as he jumped from branch to branch among the treetops. Nine shadow clones leapt through the trees a few feet back in groups of three until the ten figures reached a point in the forest where the trees became much larger and darker in color. Harry held up his right hand in a fist, signaling the clones to come to a halt.

'At this point, I'm in the unexplored portion of the Forbidden Forest, as Tom was not even foolish enough to travel through the death trap without a full squad in battle regalia.' The Shinobi mused to himself as he leapt from his position amongst the branches to the ground level.

The clones followed soon after as they began their trek through unknown territory, senses on high alert. 'It is currently three in the morning. I have the weekend away from 'classes' and only require an hour or so of sleep. That gives me ample time to explore.'

The forest had become almost impiercably dark even with his Sharingan going at full strength. "This is getting ridiculous." Harry murmured as he unsealed the Chokuto from his left forearm and held it deftly in his left hand.

The trek continued for another ten minutes at a rapid pace before the group came to halt in front of a massive temple enshrouded by the trees. The building looked to have been centuries old and war ravaged. Most of the stone structures littering the area around the entrance were blackened by flames of intense heat, ash and vitrified remains of knights in vicious looking armor lay scattered throughout the area.

The center structure was more of a spiraling coliseum reaching heights seen only in ancient Athens and other once thriving magical enclaves. The spiraling structure looked to have been either massively damaged or incomplete as the beautiful stone was glassed over and darkened.

The ground gave way a few feet after the trees abruptly stopped, the depths of which Harry was not eager to test. The soil that hadn't given way to the colossal hole in the earth was of the same consistency of soot, flaring up and wafting in the slight breeze before disintegrating.

The looming black trees completely blocked the view of the sky, looming higher than anything Harry had ever seen in his life, easily larger than the massive structures built of vitrified stone that sprung from the massive hole in the earth. The only way to enter the coliseum was to cross fallen pillars of unsteady stone, where statues of knights lay in the wake of the only accessible path.

'What on earth IS this place?' Harry asked himself in amazement as he opened up his link with Bellatrix. He began to send the images seen by his eyes through the link and asked her if she knew anything about this.

'No, master, I've never seen anything like it… Where are you?' The black asked as she immediately stopped what she was doing to give her savior her full attention. The man cowering at her feet tried to scramble away at seeing her attention suddenly shift but was stuck into place as she flung a kunai absentmindedly and pinned the man to the wall.

'The Forbidden Forest, about twenty clicks in heading north. I've been seeing some very strange creatures and statues on my way in.' Harry stated as he continued to stare out at the expansive area that looks to have been glassed over.

'I don't think any have ever gone in that far into the Forest, most only are able to make it a mile or two before being consumed by the various denizens.' Bellatrix shared as she began to pace back and forth. The man had soiled himself by this point, the kunai having pinned his shirt to the wall just inches from his throat.

'Alright, thanks. I'm going to head back; I have a very bad feeling about this place. Continue on, Bellatrix.' Harry cut the link and sent out a pulse to let the clones that had started exploring know to return. Two seconds after the pulse was sent, Harry received feedback that six of his ten clones have been destroyed by the darkened suits of armor that Harry had assumed were unoccupied.

'I just HAD to assume.' Harry bit to himself as he used the Hiding like a Mole technique to travel to where the clones had assembled without obstacle. The real Harry leapt from the earth with his Chokuto already in motion to decapitate one of the Black Knights but the blade clinked off of the armor harmlessly. The boy cursed to himself as he dove back into the earth within the same movement of his expulsion, dodging three strikes that the knight unleashed in retaliation.

Harry backtracked a few feet before bursting from the earth with his Chokuto sealed away and his hands held in a prayer fashion. "Mokuton: Seeji no Seifuku! '_Subjugation of the Sage_'" Harry shouted as eight tendrils of white wood sprung from the ground and attempted to pierce the Black Knight in one attack. The knight began to glow with golden flames when the lances finally hit the armored foe, sublimating the wood with intense heat.

"Suiton: DAIBAKUFU!" three of the remaining clones at seeing the flames retaliated with one of the more common water techniques, thought the usual power was diminished greatly due to the clones having to pull the water from the ground and atmosphere.

The three spiraling blasts of water slammed into the knight and attempted to crush it with unbearable pressure, though the enemy stood strong. After a few seconds of being attacked with the water technique, the Ebon armored swordsman shrugged off the chakra laden attack and rushed towards the nearest of the clones.

One clone was completely destroyed before the sword even hit him, a testament to the mighty force being put behind the blade. Two clones began to channel Wind Chakra through their chokuto and engaged the errant foe as Harry began to retreat.

Upon his back were two more of the Knights and to his front, eight more were approaching. The first year began to fling Kunai with explosive tags at the oncoming force, only for them to slap the knives out of the air with their swords, axes, great swords and shields the same color as their armor.

Two clones rose from the earth and snatched the sword and shield from one of the suits of armor before flinging them in Harry's direction who deftly caught the articles or armor and sealed them within his left wrist. Using wood manipulation, Harry summoned as many 'Flaming Oak' trees as he could to surround the force of eleven, one of his more proud accomplishments since he ascended from a child to a Soldier.

The trees had a highly explosive liquid inside of their slightly hollowed trunks, capable of exploding with as much force as a bomb made of C2. The explosive liquid began to secrete from the trees and covered the oncoming suits of armor.

Harry sank into the earth and began his fasted retreat ever at seeing the overwhelming force of just one of the Knights, himself not at all able to handle eleven with any hopes of survival. The Sage summoned as many clones as he could who began to suicide bomb the knights with both Futon and Katon powered explosions, leaving massive flaming craters filled with white flames in their wake.

After twenty minutes of swimming through the earth as fast as he could, Harry returned to the surface world and laid his back against one of the massive oaken towers that sprang from the earth.

"I don't know what those… things were, but whatever they are guarding must be important." Harry breathed out as he drew in as much air as his aching lungs would let him. While he may be more powerful than the average Wizard or Shinobi, the Knights guarding the burnt coliseum were impervious to all of his attacks. 'That has to have been the most frightening thing I've ever been through.'

Harry sighed before reviewing his memories of the encounter while he rested, a few more clones springing to life from the ground to secure the perimeter while their creator recuperated from the assault.

A clone sent back a pulse of knowledge to Harry, showing him yet another temple in the massive forest, though this one was not guarded by Black Knights like the other. Harry grumbled to himself before rising from his seated position before he leapt to the treetops and made his way to the other forested temple.

While the temple was built reminisce of the coliseum, it was much more modern and far less damaged than the other. Only the wear of time and nature had affected the monument of ages past, the stone worn from water rather than fire. Harry was confident that the Knights were not present after scanning the entire area with his Sharingan, no magical signatures popped up on his 'radar'.

Harry dismissed his clones and took a moment to absorb the knowledge of the surrounding area before he began to approach the center building slowly. Illegible script was scrawled into the stone fantastically, though due his lack of knowledge on the language Harry was less than impressed.

'It's almost time for the rest of the students to wake, time to head back for now.' Harry thought to himself as he made a note of where the two temples were located and began his return to Hogwarts.

=+FoStA+=

Itachi sighed as he slowly sat himself down in his office in Asylum One. His mission to drain the KGB of their assets was a complete failure, having been discovered very early on in his mission by his 'squad mates'. After communicating with Bellatrix, Itachi returned home to begin other operations necessary to create a functioning Hidden Village.

Using Doton techniques and a few Sage Arts, Itachi was able to make an expansive underground system much like the one Danzou had created under Konohagakure. The complex spanned beneath the escape tunnels previously dug out after Itachi and Harry reinforces them as much as they could with shadow clones.

The many rooms and chambers were fitted for multiple families to live in privacy, seals adorning the wall for heat, light, water and waste disposal. The rooms were stocked full of food and water of all sorts, most of it coming from Asylum One thanks to the fruit trees that littered the expansive compound.

"Bellatrix, how is the young master doing?" Itachi inquired as he gently poured himself a small glass of Midori Sake. The Uchiha clone rose the dish to his lips and sipped on the slushy liquid softly, relishing as the alcoholic beverage cooled and burned his throat at the same time.

"He was in the strangest place I had ever seen earlier, let me show you." Bellatrix stated as she looked him dead in the eyes and sent him the information via Legilimency.

"Hn, that IS strange. I've never seen anything like that before." Itachi noted as he pondered the images pouring through his mind. "I will start researching immediately, its located in the Forbidden Forest, correct?" Itachi inquired as he finished the small dish of Midori.

Bellatrix nodded absentmindedly as she leafed through a few documents laid on Itachi's desk. "Are you certain this information is absolutely correct?" Bellatrix asked as she stared at the title of the document in her hands.

"As positive as I can be. Albus Dumbledore and one other unknown entity completely rule the USSR from the top echelons down. There is no infiltrating that place without him knowing it." Itachi noted as he left his office.

Bellatrix sat down in his previous position and grabbed the bottle of Midori curiously before tilting it back. She chugged the entire contents before placing the bottle back on the desk with very light blush lighting up her cheeks. "That's weaker than I expected."

=+FoStA+=

The office of the Headmaster of Hogwarts was in complete disarray as Albus continued to rant and rave to the two way portrait of his Lover Gellert Grindlewald. The desk was completely destroyed beyond mundane means of repair as were the windows and fireplace. Books and papers lay scattered throughout the room, most singed and burnt beyond magical repair. The portraits of the previous headmasters lay vacant for the first time in many years, most of the imprints of previous life having retreated to other frames to survive the wrath of the decrepit old man.

"The boy was supposed to be DEAD! EVERYTHING SAID HE WAS DEAD!" Albus continued to roar as the wand in his hand crackled with pent up energy. Sparks and light gouts of flame shot from the man's body as smoke billowed from his nose like an enraged dragons.

His once twinkling blue eyes had become a molten red and yellow, as if the orbs were made of magma itself. The white of his eyes made way to black, small cracks of glowing red spreading from the mans eye sockets and spreading throughout his face.

"Albus, calm yourself! You are losing control yet again, and you wonder why your current body is failing you!" The portrait snapped as he sent a pulse of magic through the frame at the raging headmaster. "This vessel is going to fail me no matter what, Gellert, and it gets more painful by the day! Everything is just happening at once!" The unstable Dumbledore bellowed as he send a massive burst of fire from his hands straight through the outer walls of his office, lighting up the sky in its encompassing light.

"I am going back to sleep, Albus. Contact me when you have the current situation under control. Goodnight, dear." Gellert yelled out over the man's roars as the portrait faded to black, indicating the severed connection between the two picture frames.

The students of Hogwarts would continue to gossip of the night Albus Dumbledore wrestled a dragon in his office, leaving the masses for more unlikely to approach the man.

=+FoStA+=

The next few weeks passed in a blur, Harry having already reached the top of every one of his classes easily. McGonagall was highly impressed with the boys transfiguration skills, having changed his matchstick to a needle on his first attempt, while Hermione, Draco and Blaise did on their second try. Harry had taken to tutoring the other four students that flocked to him on the first day, something Harry was happy about in the least.

The young Sage could safely say he had friends for the first time in HIS life, something that had mellowed the boy out tremendously. Hermione and Draco were always in the boys company, though the Blond was much more silent than the Sage and the bushy haired girl. The morning he returned from the vitrified Coliseum Harry gave Hermione the sword and shield he retrieved from the knights after putting featherlight and unbreakable on the shield and an ever-sharp and unbreakable enchantment on the blade.

Hermione was delighted at the gifts as they matched the Gauntlets Harry had crafted her and gave the girl newfound confidence in herself. The sword and shields were placed in a pocket dimension on the palms of the gauntlets only accessible by Hermione herself using magic as a catalyst instead of Chakra.

True to his word, the entire Slytherin house was gifted with brand new Nimbus 2001's a week into Harry's first year thanks to a quick 'call' to Bellatrix. Using the same sealing method and metal, Lucius and Itachi each received a transceiver after Lucius had trained enough in chakra control to send the energy to the piece of metal without blowing his head apart.

Lucius was baffled at the power he could now wield, the signs of his happiness leaking over to his wife and child. Narcissa hasn't seen the man this happy since their seventh year in Hogwarts but she wasn't complaining. Itachi was as cold as ever, as he was meant to be. Bellatrix was… well, you know. Bellatrix was herself.

Harry was more alert of his surroundings than ever before as he trained himself into the ground day in and out when not in classes or socializing with his peers. All was good, but something told Harry that it wasn't bound to last.


	7. Ruins of a Lost City

From one Snake to Another

Chapter 7; Ruins of a lost city

I do not own ANYTHING related to either Naruto, Harry Potter or any other series I might **borrow** ideas from. Period. As in Nada, ziltch and zippo.

To Throndsword; I don't see how you expected anything different, you know, the mixture of two of the darkest people in the world with a boy of eight. And I have only introduced ONE Oc., Vincent Nightroad, and I didn't even elaborate on him? Haneda Yurika was in the Harry Potter storyline, just not an important character, look it up. Glad you enjoyed it the story until this point, it's not for everyone. I'm not willing to write Incest, Gore or anything like that nor make Harry TOO evil. Sorry man, I hope that doesn't turn too many people away from this story.

To everyone else, _I FREAKING LOVE YOU GUYS_

=+FoStA+=

August and September came and went as Harry continued to tutor Hermione in swordplay and how to fight and stay in motion and was pleased to say she was Chuunin solidly in Kenjutsu and shield technique alone. She had taken to wearing her gauntlets constantly and begged Harry to make her a pair of greaves and chest plate to wear under her uniform to get used to the movement restrictions of armor.

Featherlight charms may reduce weight, but the enchantments don't make the armor more flexible. Hermione was shaping up very well after the many spars she and Harry have had every Friday night in the Room of Requirement. Hermione was shaping up to be one hell of a warrior, having grown confident after numerous spars with Harry.

Draco had begun to practice the mind techniques that Itachi and Lucius were able to create for the Malfoy's usage, mostly dealing with Illusions able to be cast with eye contact. The Blond was an adept with knives and a hunting bow, Harry having gifted the boy with the weapons and finely crafted Dragonskin armor with as many protective enchantments as Harry could cast with his immature core.

For being a pureblood of aristocratic birth, Draco and Hermione got along very well after a few subtle threats from Harry after the blond used the 'Mudblood' term again the day after the sorting ceremony. Of course, Harry was extremely crabby at having almost been decimated by Knights capable of withstanding C2 explosives and a wind enhanced chokuto, but Draco didn't know that.

Itachi and Bellatrix were unable to find any information about anything that deep into the Forbidden Forest, most people having only trekked 2 miles before retreating so they could live to tell about it. Harry was upset but there was nothing he could do about lack of exploration besides explore it himself.

Dumbledore continued to act as if nothing was wrong in public, but as the days go on; his visage of peace was falling to pieces. The two red headed brothers of Ron were publically dressed down by the man verbally after a rather ingenious prank that left the man tied up by his now tie-dye beard and robes during breakfast one morning.

Fred and George as Dumbledore and Minerva called them were scrubbing the second and fourth hallways with their toothbrushes for days after the incident, though they were whispering conspiratorially the whole time.

Harry was enjoying the peace for the first time in the presence of his friends, though in the hallways the boy maintained his visage of being untouchable. Harry, Hermione and Draco had become the talk of the school quickly, the trio having been named 'The Royals' from the way they carried themselves.

Blaise, Yurika and another boy by the name of Vincent Nightroad had made an unspoken agreement with Harry's group to study and practice together on Saturday and Sundays in the Room of Requirements after Harry left a small note for the Haneda to find in her potions book one day after noticing the glint of a Kunai always hidden in her right sleeve.

"Hermione, stir the potion twice clockwise, sprinkle the ground parsnip and then stir clockwise three full rotations. Let it simmer for five minutes and help me prepare the newt eyes." Harry murmured as the two crowded around a cauldron, once again in double potions with the Gryffindorks as Malfoy mockingly named them.

Neville and Ron had become tightknit and could always be seen talking to Dumbledore about one thing or another. The elderly man would eye Harry when he thought the boy wasn't looking, but Harry had taken to keeping squads of invisible clones stationed all around him as he moved throughout the castle, both day and night.

When Dumbledore, Shacklebolt or any of the other professors would try to corner the boy in the hallways, he would quickly either use either earth manipulation to disappear or Meseigakure itself. 'Invisibility has to be the most USEFUL skill I know besides Shadow Clones.' Harry mused to himself as he continued to crush the eyes with the flat of his knife slowly.

The Draught of Silence was a rather handy potion and wasn't usually on the first year curriculum, but after a bit of goading from Hermione and Draco, Professor Slughorn caved and taught them the brewing process for an O.W.L.s potion for practice.

Crushed eye of Newt had a peculiar property when mixed correctly with ground parsnip and diced Dragonsweed, capable of muting the voice box completely for hours on end if the concentration of the potion was high enough. It was mostly used in ancient days to mute the screams of torture victims and later for those who had overpowered their sonorous charms.

"Alright, now continue to stir counterclockwise for sixty seconds and then stir it clockwise two rotations and stop, let it simmer for three more minutes and it will be complete." Harry called out as he continued to check over his checklist in the potion creation process.

Slughorn had been extremely distant to Harry, though it was to be expected with him under Dumbledore's thrall so completely. The signs of control were beginning to show in most of the professors, Flitwick and Hagrid excluded. 'I can't even attempt to free them any time soon; I'm not risking it while right under the man's nose. He would simply recast it and my efforts would be for naught.' Harry lamented to himself as he and Hermione bottled and labeled their potions before handing it in to the professor.

"Completely flawless, outstanding work as always Mr. Potter, Ms. Granger. You are dismissed." Slughorn absentmindedly drawled as he glanced at their potion before setting it in a box at his feet with the other potions.

Those of bad quality were usually vanished before the brewer's eyes, though it only happened to Hermione and Harry once due to a verbal mix-up.

Harry and Hermione left the room and stood outside of the door, waiting for Draco and Pansy Parkinson to finish turning in their potion before Pansy left the three with a sneer on her face. Harry knew the look all too well and knew that in the future, he would have problems with the girl. While she was not the most rude of Slytherin, she was definitely one of the more cold members towards the boy-who-lived.

'I didn't think the Parkinson family bought into the pureblooded bigotry, how curious.' Harry thought to himself as the three 'Royals' made their way to the Great Hall for lunch. Slowly but surely, the Slytherin house was opening up to Harry, most of the children in the house coming from previous Death Eaters. 'If they choose to support Voldemort like their parents, then I shall show them no mercy because they surely won't have any for me and mine.'

=+FoStA+=

Albus Dumbledore was notably absent from lunch and dinner that night, something that gave Harry an idea. It was midnight again before Harry left the dungeons under his most powerfully cast Meseigakure technique. He traveled along the ceiling of the castle and watched as Slughorn and Shacklebolt shuffled beneath him in a strange patrol pattern.

Harry was amused greatly by the minor protections on the headmasters office, only a stone gargoyle stood in his way. A quick hiding like a mole technique later and Harry had bypassed all protective barriers around the Gargoyle and wards in place to protect Dumbledores office.

Harry slipped from the stone flooring just enough for his eyes to peer out around the office. Harry dipped back into the earth after confirming that while the headmaster wasn't present, the portraits were unnaturally alert to everything in the office. Using Chakra Threads, a technique Orochimaru picked up from Sasori during their partnership in Akatsuki, Harry began to pilfer everything he could from the office. Books of all sorts were covered by the invisibility technique before they were pulled from the shelves, making it seem as if they simply disappeared as opposed to being stolen.

Harry left the office after five minutes, not wanting to risk one of the previous headmasters contacting Dumbledore once his office started to empty itself. With good timing, Harry made his way to the dungeons once again with books on all sorts of Light and Dark magicks sealed away on his person.

'Hermione is going to be pleased with a few of these spells, I hope.' Harry thought to himself as he rose from the earth in his own personal chambers before dressing himself in his night clothes and going to sleep for a few hours.

Albus returned to his pilfered office ten minutes after he was alerted that his belongings were vanishing, the man's eyes glowing as if they were made of magma. The man roared and once again went on a rampage after opening a link with Gellert, who rolled his eyes and listened patiently as the man described what had most recently befallen him. It was one in the morning when Dumbledore departed from his office again, this time his destination was the Forbidden Forest.

=+FoStA+=

Samhain was once again upon the world as Harry sat in his usual spot at the Slytherin table, surrounded by both his group and Yurika's. Harry calmly munched on a stick of Dango and sipped scalding hot green tea while most of the house talked amongst itself, the rest of the school loud and rambunctious thanks to the powerful magicks that energized their immature cores.

Hermione was rather giddy thanks to the powerful boost of magic, though Draco was stoic as ever. Nothing really seemed to shake the boy from his cool visage and reminded Harry greatly of his 'student' Sasuke, minus the angst issues. Ever since the boy ditched Crabbe and Goyle, the Malfoy had become an outstanding student as opposed to a thug like he would have ended up like.

Yukari, Blaise, Vincent and Daphne Greengrass sat not far from the Royals, Daphne having joined Yukari's clique after her and Pansy had a public falling out about one thing or another. After pondering it, Itachi sent Lucius a message for him to extend an offer to join the Akatsuki clan to the Greengrass family due to the darker disposition of the family. Thankfully, Daniel and Gabriel Greengrass were not supporters of Voldemort or Dumbledore, making them free game to recruit into Harry's illusive organization.

The family asked to give them time to think on the offer, something both Itachi and Harry agreed to after leaving them with a pendant so that the family could contact Itachi directly once they had come to their decision.

"So, Harry, what are we going to be doing tonight?" Hermione asked seeing as it was a Friday night yet again. Normally they would spar in the Room, but due to it being a Holiday as well as Harry's parent's death day, Hermione didn't want to intrude on any private time the boy might want.

"I plan on mourning, Hermione. How about we continue our tutoring session tomorrow night?" Harry asked politely as he placed his dango skewer on the now empty tray with the other sticks he had devoured.

"Alright, Harry, sounds good to me." Hermione quipped as she continued to chow down, though noticeably more down trodden. 'I hope he is alright… I don't know how I would deal with what he has been through.' Hermione thought forlornly as she glanced at the boy from the corner of her eyes.

Draco watched on silently as always, his piercingly blue eyes staring into the green eyes of Harry, a silent exchange letting Harry know that he was there for him if he needed him. A small smile graced the Sages face before disappearing as quickly as it came.

As soon as supper was over, Harry departed to his Chambers where he dressed himself in the nicest black robes he owned before sinking into the ground to travel outside of the anti-apparition wards placed around Hogwarts. The moment the boy was passed the wards, he leapt from the earth and disappeared in a loud crack. A pair of glowing purple eyes watched from behind a tree just inside of the forest of death as the boy jumped from the earth as if it were water, not even a speck of dirt on him.

'Just who are you, Potter?'

=+FoStA+=

Harry found himself wandering Godrics Hollow a few moments after departing Hogwarts, a blank look in his eyes as he peered out at the headstones of his birth parents and himself, regardless of the boy not being dead. A monument of ivory was crafted and placed behind the tombstones in the same visage as the one located in Diagon Alley, something that brought a tear to Harry's eyes. Large amounts of flowers were already laid on the graves of all assortments, though Harry didn't care. 'I'm glad they appreciate our sacrifice…'

Harry laid a single white rose on his mother's gravestone and began to talk about his life, from the moment she saved him and kept him 'whole' through the Kamui incident to him being sorted into Slytherin. "I have gained followers, mother, but I have also made friends. I always thought I would be alone, but just when I lost faith in humanity once again, Hermione and Draco wormed their way in and have kept me sane. I would have already declared war on Dumbledore if not for the two of them…"

Hours ticked by for the boy though he wasn't counting them. Harry talked about anything and everything that came to mind to his deceased mother, completely neglecting the father that he had come to hate with a passion. As Harry was leaving to return to school, he thought he heard a whisper in the wind. After pausing for a second and shaking his head, the Shinobi apparated away to Hogwarts, completely missing the voice blowing in the wind.

'Be safe, my son. I love you.'

=+FoStA+=

"Hello, Itachi, how are you?" Harry asked as he popped into existence behind the man, still dressed in his mourning robes. Itachi was not startled by the boys sudden appearance, considering he himself had the propensity to sneak up on people. "As fine as always, Harry. How are you?" Itachi inquired as he sipped on his dish of Sake. "You know, are technically aren't even a year old yet, are you sure you should be drinking?" Harry stated to detract from the current conversation.

"You know this body was grown to match that of a twenty year old Shinobi, do not change the subject. Are you alright?" Itachi asked as he set his dish down on a large stack of paperwork which he eyed disdainfully.

"As fine as I can be on this day, and yourself?" Harry finally admitted while he too stared at the paperwork on the desk. 'Why the hell do we even NEED paperwork? Oh… right, no digital trail. I keep forgetting how adept the mundane are here with technology.'

Itachi seemed to ponder the question for a minute, his eyes drifting lazily around the room while he judged thoughts on the matter. "I am coping with it. It is difficult, but nothing I cannot overcome."

Harry nodded and bid Itachi a good night as he left Itachi's office to retrieve a few tomes of magicks from his room. The Akatsuki founder stared around his room in slight longing before shaking his head and grabbing the books and disappearing in a pop. Bellatrix was out doing goodness knows what and Lucius and his wife were currently in the courtyard, each enjoying the others company while Lucius continued to practice the leaf sticking exercise.

"You know dear, I've been thinking… How about we give Draco another sibling?" Narcissa finally asked as she stared longingly at her husband. Lucius lost control of the leaves the moment he processed what his wife said while he whipped his head to face her. "Let us get right on it, Narcissa; there is no time to waste."

=+FoStA+=

It was a freezing night in Albania, snow and ice covering every surface whether it is house, tree or earth. The many townspeople were holed up in their homes leaving the streets deserted of travelers. A black phantasmal being floated from the forest and towards the snowed in society, its visage able to be likened to that of a Dementor if not for the eerily glowing red eyes that peered from ink black smoke.

A blond child was outside of his home gathering more firewood when the smoky mass descended on the child and forcing itself into the blonde's body. The child couldn't scream as his body began to reject his own spirit to replace it with the phantoms. Black lines began to trace themselves along the boys skin where his veins were located, making the child look as if he was falling apart and dying from a terminal illness.

The blonde's body slumped for a moment before it rose again and began to test the muscles now under its control. Crimson eyes stared back at the world instead of the sky blue that the child once possessed. "Perrrrrfect." The child purred in a much deeper than normal voice that carried undertones of aristocratic birth.

The possessed vessel turned and walked back into the forest slowly, twitching every so often and stumbling due to over or under extension of the legs. The child finally emerged in a recently made clearing, the wood from the trees stacked neatly in the middle in ready for a grand pyre. The nameless figure smiled as he began to chant in a language long lost to man as the wood combusted without help from the man. Azure and black sigils began to carve themselves from the earth surrounding the pyre and caused the ground to shake and break apart.

Tendrils of Blue began to seep from the ground and pollute the earth that it touched, causing much of the already dying and frozen trees around the clearing to decay and fall to pieces. The child began to float as the ground gave way beneath him, his crimson eyes staring disdainfully down into the deep chasm that opened up beneath him

The land that wasn't consumed began to corrode and turn black as the snow evaporated into ashy grey steam. A loud hiss broke the sound of decomposing earth, causing the boys glowing carmine eyes to snap down into the chasm. A serpent larger than any other shot from the darkness, easily three times the size of a fully grown Basilisk with four massive fangs protruding from its upper jaw. The fangs were dripping an acidic poison strong enough to burn the very oxygen that the viscous venom cut through.

Three sharp eyes stared back at the floating child, an odd mixture of gray, orange and red that seemed to stare directly into the possessed child's soul. Cracks of black and grey stretched across the glossy orbs, as if they were made of shattered stone held together by the energy that poured through them.

"Greeting, serpent. I am the Dark Lord Voldemort and I have summoned you to make a deal. For this body I currently possess and two others, I wish for you to craft me a body that I might permanently anchor myself to naturally, one of great power and endurance." Voldemort stated as he glanced around the now consumed clearing, not dare looking back into the strange creatures eyes. The creature did not understand parseltongue, Voldemort having tried initial communication by the voice of the snake, only to fail.

"Ye who seeketh Power, it shall be done. For a descendent of Man, I can feel no humanity in your soul… curious, so very curious indeed. Return here in a fortnight and it shall be done, after you pay the price, of course." The fanged serpent –like creature hissed at last, though not in a serpentine fashion. Voldemort didn't mentally understand what the hissing creature said, but his very being seemed to translate it as the words fluttered through his head like a shadow racing across a window briefly.

Voldemorts smoky soul poured from the child's mouth as he took up his form as a phantom once again before the massive demonic beast speared two separate tongues through the soulless body and pulled him into its waiting mouth.

The spirit of the Dark Lord had to fight back the urge to sneer in disgust at the blood pouring from the creature's mouth in rivers before nodding his phantasmal head and disappearing into the forest to retrieve two other sacrifices. The Primordial being watched as the floating spirit wandered away listlessly as it descended back into the chasm, leaving a slowly growing and festering wound of the earth in its wake.

=+FoStA+=

Harry returned to Hogwarts to drop of the items he picked up from Asylum One before he sank back into the earth to travel to the forbidden forest once more. The vitrified coliseum may have been too well protected for him to explore, but Harry was confident that the second temple would hold no enemies that he couldn't take, considering the much closer proximity to the Forbidden Forest and not the Dark Forest as Harry had taken to calling the furthest most reaches of the wooded area.

After having a few patrols of Shadow Clones map out as much of the forest as they could, Harry was slowly building a firm understanding of each portion of the thus explored forest and detailed knowledge of their occupants. Harry dared not send a clone too far into the Dark Forest, not wanting to bring down the wrath of the charred black knights that resided around the Vitrified Coliseum, though he was able to discover another gaping valley that had a way to further trek into it without drawing their vengeful ire towards him.

The Shinobi quickly traveled to the forested temple, having already drawn his slightly chipped chokuto once the forest slightly darkened. The pillars surrounding the temple glowed in an otherworldly light unlike the first time Harry saw them, making the boy raise a brow. Along the front of the ruins laid the same script that Harry failed to translate this time, though the strange glowing symbols seemed to trigger a memory deep in Harry. 'Just what is this feeling of nostalgia?'

The Sage traveled into the Ruins after passing a few corpses webbed to the inside of the main chamber with golden web, though Harry did stop to stab the corpses just to make sure. 'You can never be sure in these parts.' Harry thought to himself in sarcasm after decapitating another desecrated body. After removing the heads from all of the webbed bodies, Harry turned a critical eye to the darkness that seemed to be beckoning him further in. The first year drew his wand with his right hand and placed his Chokuto in his left, not wanting to be cut off from his more powerful spells after seeing his Jutsu barely harm the knights.

"Lumos Maximus." The boy intoned as a large globe of light sprung from his wand and started to circle his body slowly. The golden webbing was becoming thicker as the boy walked deeper into the strange ruins, taking note of the curious carvings and architecture of the place. 'These symbols are unlike any I have ever seen, and I've studied the Mundane and Magical languages of this planet extensively.' Harry thought in bewilderment as he slowed his trek into the hidden temple after noticing a very large increase in temperature, sweat pouring from his brow in rivulets.

The large hallway gave way to a descending staircase crawling with strange spider-like creatures with four glowing orange eyes. The creatures began to hiss and click their pincers angrily as one leapt from its position towards Harry, only to be cut in half lazily by the boy.

The remaining creatures guarding the stairs began to spit small globs of what looked to be lava from their mouth towards the boy who used Kawarimi to switch himself with one of the attacking spider-things. The creature screeched as it was covered in the molten liquid and began to writhe on the ground in pain, though it got up quickly and scanned the room with its multiple glowing orbs. Harry watched in fascination as the creatures began to click their pincers together and retreat as one unit, leaving the bisected creature at Harry's feet as they scrambled away.

Harry watched as the creatures scrambled away before a pulse of chakra erupted from his feet, resulting in wooden tendrils already present throughout the passage to snap out and coil themselves around the arachnid like creatures. A moment after being surrounded by the wood, the creatures were crushed and pierced by small root-like systems that suddenly sprouted from the tendrils.

The black haired youth paused to seal away a few of the carcasses for study before continuing deep into the ruins of the ancient temple, dodging more of the strange creatures while running into a more broad variety the deeper he wandered. A few of the arachnid creatures began to emit a low hum and glow brighter than the 'lumos maximus' spell that still hung around Harry.

Harry finally stumbled out of the long and dark corridor, finding himself in an auditorium of sorts filled with gaping holes in the ground and a massive amount of lava pouring from the ceiling and covering the left and right walls completely. Statues of a strangely robed figure, a woman if its posture was correct, stood erect around the intensely heated room, giving the whole area a strange feeling as if under constant observance.

Harry eyed the statues wearily, flaring his Sharingan to its maximum potential as he memorized the pathways of magic circulating through the carved figures. 'It is not behaving the way the Black Knights' did, but I'm not taking any chances.' Harry thought to himself as he lobbed a few explosive note covered kunai knives at one of the statues, only for it to reach out and grab the knife before returning it to Harry in a similar manner. Harry deflected the kunai at the last second with his chipped chokuto before rolling out of the way of an intense wave of flames. 'It is too hot to properly use Suiton techniques, leaving me with Doton and Futon techniques to combat this… statue. I am starting to really HATE everything in this forest.' Harry thought as the explosive notes triggered themselves, leaving massive craters that steadily filled with lava in the craters left behind.

Harry sent a spear carved of earth speeding towards the statue only for it to melt it in a wave of flames much like the knights did. After seeing one of his attacks completely neutralized, Harry sent a stone crusher curse towards the statue while chains of earth sprung from the stone floor and coiled tightly around the statue. The stone crusher curse was of an uncommon variety, Voldemort having stumbled upon it in the Dwarven ruins of Mgnoldjorn, one of the most ancient cities built by the now disgraced dwarves. The curse bounced harmlessly off of the statue, though the chains restrained the strange being easily enough after pumping a concentrated pulse of earth chakra through the cuffs and bindings.

Snakes of white wood began to slither from the ground before they too coiled around the creature, only the snakes were present to sap the statue of its potent spiritual energy. Thanks to a technique of Orochimaru's, Harry was able to sap the 'knowledge' and spiritual energy directly from an unwilling source, though there was no way of doing this without killing the victim. The technique was generally only used on captured enemy forces or Nuke-Nin, whichever Orochimaru had his on generally determined the victim.

The statue tried flaring up its fire magicks but it was too late as the snakes completely drained the heated magick completely from the crimson crystal figurine. Harry sent a few more spears of earth towards it before determining that it was completely 'dead' and not coming back. The scientific genius proceeded to absorb the knowledge and energy from the snakes before dismissing them and sealing away the statue, confident in his newfound discoveries. Harry proceeded to drain and seal away twenty of the statues before leaving the chamber to proceed with his journey into the bowels of the earth, pondering the information drained from the statues.

'Animation using a piece of your soul as an anchor? That disproves a few theories I've had, but none the less, the creator of these statues was a very talented woman indeed…'

=+FoStA+=

Bellatrix was worried about her master. She and Itachi had been studying the ancient histories on trying to find out anything about the deepest reaches of the forbidden forest though the research has been slow. Itachi made the discovery of what resided at the location of Hogwarts before the castle was built, though the man was skeptical at best about what he read.

A city that had long lost its name resided on those hallowed grounds, having been built to house the 'gods' of ages long passed. Obscure legends of fire wielding titans and dragons were laid bare in the tomb, depicting the lore of an age millions of years passed, only talked of in the most ancient of magical legends. "Bellatrix, why does your family have records from this long ago and why have they not been shared or destroyed? These books aren't in the best condition, but if these stories are to be believed..."

Bellatrix shrugged as she read through the large book once more, trying to process what she was reading though was having difficulties. "I'm not sure, Itachi, my family is VERY old and have been adept with magic since before the Middle Ages, we could have had relatives that existed back then I suppose…" Bella murmured as she set the book down on her desk as she leaned back in her chair and massaged her eyes. "Master is getting himself into a load of trouble if any of this is true. I will warn him tomorrow, he is likely sleeping by now."

Itachi nodded as he rose from his seated position, stretching slightly as he did so to relax his tightened muscles due to reading ancient lore that was barely legible for hours on end. Understand the language of the world was barely any help to the clone of Itachi as the script easily predated most written and spoken languages even from ancient times. Itachi left Bellatrix's office after a few more moments of speaking with the woman before going to his personal chambers.

Itachi passed Severus and Sirius on his way to his room, the two men locked in yet another petty argument over which country had the best economy for illicit potions while Lilith floated behind the two with a small smile on her face. 'I hope Harry will be alright, we have a lot riding on him.' Itachi thought to himself as his eyes finally closed for rest, the spinning red Sharingan in his eyes deactivating in his sleep to conserve his chakra.

=+FoStA+=

Harry continued to dodge for his life as he rolled out of the way of a massive black pole smashing repeatedly into the ground where he once stood. He found himself staring down a massive, faceless demonic creature after traveling deep enough past the massive chamber that contained the crimson statues. The demon was guarding the entrance to another large room, though Harry wasn't able to get a good look into the room as he was busy fighting to survive against the mighty creature.

Black leathery skin was stretched across a massive and muscular frame, though the demon was faceless and earless, giving Harry the impression that it didn't even need to see him or hear him to kill him. The demon stood at fifteen feet tall with an arm span the same length, giving it a completely unfair advantage over Harry. 'This is turning into Grade A Bull-'

Harry coated his ruined chokuto in a massive amount of Futon and Senjutsu chakra through his blade as he approached from beneath the creature for the kill. Harry leapt into the air and drew his blade from the bottom to the top of the demon, though the gash in its extremely thick skin was superficial at best.

Harry cursed as he landed roughly after being slapped out of the air by the demon away from the chamber it was protecting. After rolling a few times along the cracked and shattered ground, Harry struggled to pick himself up in time to dodge to lightning bolt that was barreling towards him at break-neck speeds.

The Sage swung his blade thrice, letting loose blades of extremely sharp wind to hopefully negate the lightning and strike at the demon. The lightning was dissipated moments before it could spear through Harry, though the creature seemed to shrug off the wind attacks. The massive demon was too large to leap at Harry thanks to the 'low' ceiling, though Harry had the bright idea of summoning as many clones as he could to bum-rush the creature.

Harry jumped from the ground and stuck himself to the ceiling in one leap as he began to draw seals all along the top half of the hallways and powering them with as much Chakra as they could hold. The fuinjutsu script shot from the ceiling after reaching maximum holding potential and wrapped around the vicious monster in a vice grip. A tendril of wood shot from the ground and wrapped itself around the monsters giant weapon before dragging it away from the seal covered demon, allowing Harry to seal the few ton object away for study. 'Kai!'

The seals began to glow an ominous purple before imploding on themselves in a chain reaction, leaving a colossal amount of rubble over the black demons deformed and charred body. A strange roar echoed throughout the partially collapsed hallway as the demon went through its death throes, green ichor seeping from beneath its earthen tomb.

Harry sent a few clones to poke at its body as to confirm its death, not wanting to take any chances on that behemoth getting its hands on him. 'Just how big do those creatures get?' Harry asked himself after he got confirmation that the demon was dead. Harry proceeded to seal away its corpse in a stasis seal on his right shoulder, allowing him to preserve the body to research later along with the strange crimson statues.

After glancing around the ruined corridor, Harry proceeded further into the bowels of the temple with the use of earth manipulation, a nagging voice in the back of his head telling him to head deeper. The Chakra wielder delved further and further through the ruins, having slaughtered two more of the demons that possessed weapons much like the first, though the chambers they were situated in were nowhere near as tightly compacted as the first encounter was.

After an hour or so of wandering the complex and sealing away anything of interest, Harry finally came across the most remarkable weapon he had ever seen in his three lives. The weapon was of French design, an Epee rapier with a golden and crimson hilt intricately designed, though the blade was more reminisce of a English long sword. The blade was easily six feet long, something that surprised Harry. 'A weapon like this must weigh a ton...' He mused as he lifted the blade from its resting place upon a podium. The blade was as light as a feather, and after scanning it with his Sharingan, Harry was confident that this weapon was easily one of the most powerful he had ever come across.

'There are a LOT of enchantments on this blade; it seems I am nowhere near capable of crafting a blade of this quality… yet.'

Harry's musing was brought to an abrupt halt as the room began to tremor as dark magicks began to billow around him. Flames tainted with chaotic intent began to stream from the floor, rising in pillars that easily reached the heightened ceiling of the darkened ruins.

A large quake shook the room before the ceiling partially gave way, a demon three times the size of the previous monsters falling from the massive hole, its large mace-like weapon already en route towards crushing Harry. The beast stood at easily twenty feet tall and couldn't weigh less than three tons. Crimson skin was stretched over bulging muscles, black veins tracing the arms and legs of the foul creature. Two pairs of black leathery wings adorned the demons back, torn and ripped from probably centuries of abuse and use.

The boy cursed before sinking into the earth and racing below where the colossus now crouched. Harry pumped a bit of magic into the pilfered Epee styled longsword and hoped that this blade would at least damage the creature unlike his Chokuto that had no enchantments on it. Harry leapt from the earth with his blade poised directly for the demons left eye which gave way to the glowing blade easily.

The colossus screeched in pain as it clutched its ruined eye with its left appendage while Harry scrambled around the body of the demon using chakra to cling to its flailing form. Using the blade that glowed in ethereal light, Harry was able to gouge deep trenches in his foes vital points much quicker than he could have taken down the others as the demon slammed its left hand into the spots it could feel the nimble boy hitting in hopes of crushing him beneath its huge fists.

After dodging yet another blow, Harry jumped from his position on the demons shoulders, slicing three wings and the back of its legs as he quickly descended towards the floor. The colossus proved itself quicker than assumed and drilled the Sage with a solid blow from its crimson mace, launching Harry away at speeds that left a trail of misty blood hanging in the air in his wake.

Harry groaned as he tried to rise from his position while assessing his injuries. 'Crushed ribcage, left lung only works at 20 percent capacity… Thank goodness for having memorized the healing techniques Kabuto used or this would have killed me for sure.'

The wounds present on him began to heal at a rapid pace, fueled by both adrenaline and Senjutsu chakra, allowing the boy to spring to his left to dodge a blow that would have crushed him. The mace wielding monster roared as it searched for Harry with its one functional eye, the glowing orange orb pulsating in anger as it scoured the room.

Harry had sank beneath the earth once he landed, creating a small chamber a few feet beneath the demon as he unsealed a few healing potions for the inside of his robe. After downing two of the golden elixirs, the Shinobi charged as much magic as he could to the blade in his right hand, causing it to erupt in pale blue flames though Harry felt no heat.

The chakra wielder stabbed upwards with the blade, embedding the blade directly into the colossus's right foot. The monster roared as he tried to lift the foot, only to find wooden snakes coiling around its legs and holding it in place. A few more serpents sprung from the ground and curled themselves around the beasts' arms before tightening and crushing the bones in its body.

The ethereal blade buried itself into the demons skull from behind, finally putting the monster to rest. Unlike the rest of the creatures in the ruins, this one didn't roar or screech as it died. The mighty carmine colored beast fell to the ground in a boneless heap before its body began to glow and fade.

Harry watched in trepidation as the creature disappeared completely, leaving a pulsating white orb and its mighty weapon in its wake. The boy scanned the room before sighing and sealing away his procured weapons in his right forearm, the colossal mace taking up much of the space left in his pocket-dimensions. The white orb was cool in his palm, though he could feel an immense heat coming from inside of it.

Thinking back on what he did with the fragments of Voldemorts soul that he absorbed, Harry crushed the orb and watched in wonder as orange and white swirls began to spiral around him. The feeling of absorbing the energy was almost foreign to the boy, who fought with the concentrated energy to rein it into his own reserves of magick and chakra.

After a few minutes of converting the energy, Harry felt better than he had ever felt. 'If my theory is correct, I can absorb the left over 'souls' if they are broken away from the body before, or after in this case, death and add them to my own… this requires research.' Harry thought to himself for the umpteenth time that night as he sank into the floor so that he could travel through the earth directly to Hogwarts, leaving the ruins in worse shape than he found them. Not that any living creature knew that, of course.

=+FoStA+=

Hermione was worried about her first friend as she watched him carefully the following day. He looked to be completely fine, but something was off about him. He seemed… mechanical compared to his usual self, as if he were going through the motions without any thought behind it and it scared her. Potions class went as well as ever, though she noticed the boy spoke in monotones the whole time. Ron Weasley attempted to lob a small ball of dittany in their cauldron but Harry send the small orb right into Ron's cauldron before it could make contact with a flick of his wrist. It was Herbology that made Hermione a nervous mess.

They were handling Devil's Snare; something that Harry had thoroughly briefed her and Draco on how to handle as well as teach them a more versatile fire spell to use when dealing with the partially sentient plant.

Instead of a small gout of steady flames, this spell utilized a precise and much hotter flame, more akin to a scalpel blade than a stream of flames. The flames would only protrude five or six inches from the tip of the user's wand as opposed to a few feet, making it easier to handle for the first years.

Harry seemed to forget about the spell he taught Hermione and Draco, instead doing something far more strange to calm the strangling plant. Harry reached out and began to pet the plant which curled up and calmed down at the boys touch. The Slytherin's and Ravenclaw's stared at the boy as he cowed the plant with just his touch instead of repelling it with flames, even Professor Sprout seemed to be dazed at watching Harry.

Harry didn't notice the stares as he continued to pet the plant as if it were a pet, the deadly vines coiling loosely around his hand in an almost loving embrace. Hermione finally nudged Harry lightly on the shoulder with her armored hand, a confused and bewildered expression on her face. "Harry, that's not how you normally do it… what on earth are you doing?!"

Harry finally noticed the odd looks he was getting from his classmates and stopped coddling the Devils Snare, which seemed to droop in disappointment when he finally withdrew his hand. "I have an affinity for nature; this beautiful specimen just wants to feel loved." Harry murmured as he turned back to the plant, giving the rest of the class a slightly amused glance before diverting his attention back to the now playful tendrils of the plant.

Professor Sprout was delighted as she watched the boy continue to handle the plants with just his hands, not having seen anyone with such an ability with the plants outside of the Gryffindor first year Neville Longbottom, though he still had to use his wand to subdue and handle the coiling vines.

Hermione and Draco stuck close to Harry and kept the more curious members of both houses from pestering the boy as he absentmindedly played with the vines as if he were staring far past the material world and further into the very depths of the void that lay beneath and above.

Draco grumbled in annoyance as Harry once again stole the limelight, though he knew he shouldn't be jealous of the boy. Harry had already given the blond more than any other person than his parents in both friendship and gifts, whether they are the bow and daggers now concealed on the boy or the knowledge Harry has given him freely.

The rest of Herbology was an excited affair as the students and teacher eyed Harry and his tremendous affinity for plants, though Defense Against the Dark Arts was dull enough for Harry to actually fall asleep in. Kingsley Shacklebolt only allowed for usage of wands once a week, and even then the man would lecture on trivial subjects rather than actually teach the students anything useful besides the stinging hex.

After Dinner, Hermione and Draco cornered Harry once they were able to pull him away from his place while walking back to the dungeons, dragging him to the seventh floor where they finally confronted him in the Room of Requirement. "Okay, Harry, spill it. What is on your mind?" Draco spoke up as he eyed the boy curiously, a slight tinge of worry appearing on his face as he questioned the boy.

Hermione stood silently to the side as she watched Harry mull over his response before he finally spoke. "I had a bit of a rough night last night; I'm still trying to process all that happened, honestly." Harry responded as he willed a confortable looking chair into existence thanks to the abilities of the room they often used.

"Neither of you have ever wandered into the Forest, correct?" Harry asked as he unsealed one of the crimson statues from its stasis after ensuring that it wouldn't attack either of his friends. Hermione answered in the negative while Draco just shrugged his shoulders. "I had detention thanks to that prude McGonagall, she made that arrogant Longbottom and I go with the filthy groundskeeper through the Forest on patrol. Why do you ask?"

Harry was a bit shocked at hearing that Professor McGonagall would send first years into the forest for detention when she knew that was clearly a violation of protocol and could get her in serious trouble as well as the groundskeeper for agreeing to the situation in the first place.

"I ended up having to kill two Acromantula with the bow to keep myself and chubby from being devoured after the groundskeeper wandered off to do goodness knows what. Thanks to the mind arts, Longbottom is none the wiser that he owes me a life debt." Draco continued as he too conjured a chair to sit on while Harry and Hermione listened to the Malfoy heir. Hermione paled drastically at hearing the boys words while Harry leaned further back in his chair, mulling over the revelation.

"It seems it is time to begin training harder if the professors are going to be so bold as to send a few students to their deaths." Harry admitted as he animated the crimson statue using a technique he learned from draining the first statue he encountered of its 'knowledge'. The crimson crystalline figure began to stretch as it walked off of its pedestal, looking around the room as if it were alive.

"This is something I encountered during my own ventures into the forest, this is going to be our sparring partner for the next few months as we get used to working in a squad." Harry spoke as the crystal statue began to charge a pyroclastic spell within its hands, causing Hermione and Draco to draw their weapons. Draco pulled the string back on his bow as an arrow made of ethereal magick phased into existence and unleashed itself once he released the string, sending a pale blue projectile hurtling towards the statue.

The statue rolled quickly out of the way of the arrow and sent the spell 'she' was charging towards the three of them, a wave of golden flames erupting from the ground and spiraling towards the three. Harry stomped his foot and sent a pulse of earth chakra into the ground, causing a wall of stone to erupt from the ground after he lazily rose from his chair. Draco and Hermione were shocked at both the attack and defense used against it, not having seen magicks used like the ones either was wielding.

The wall of earth dropped and Harry launched forward, slamming his open palm into the statue only for it to lean with the blow and attempt to swipe his feet from beneath him. Draco continued to launch arrows at the figurine when he had a clear shot while Hermione rushed forwards and bashed the animated statue with her shield as hard as she could to give Harry breathing room, slashing her large sword towards the statue all the while.

The fighting continued for an hour until Hermione and Draco were too tired to continue, causing the statue to stop attack while Harry himself just watched the two in amusement. "Are you two already done? We were just getting started!" The boy joked as he sat himself down in the reconjured chair before handing the two of them a glowing green vial of liquid. "These are stamina and energy replenishing potions; they will make you feel better."

The three started talking about the fight and strategies the three of them could use in a fight. Harry looked torn towards the end of the session before shaking his thoughts off, though Draco and Hermione didn't notice. "Hey, Draco, have you ever used an Epee or Longsword?" Harry asked as he unsealed the beautiful blade from his right forearm, showing the blond the blade. The golden basket hilt that surrounded only the front of the first was beautifully grafted, allowing complete protection of the hand while allowing for more downwards slices as well as jousts.

"I have been trained to be proficient with both; my family did originate in France after all." Draco smugly answered while he eyed the ornate weapon. "I want you to have this, then. I can't wield it to its full potential, but something tells me you will be able to." Harry murmured as he passed the weapon he almost lost his life for to the boy after the feeling wouldn't leave him. It was a spectacle to behold as Draco grasped the hilt of the weapon which flashed a blue that was the same shade as the boys eyes before dulling down so that the glow only surrounded the now shortened blade. As opposed to the great length that Harry found the blade, the instrument of death now only reached three feet and seemed to be thinner, something that suited Draco much better than the lofty weapon it once was.

"How fascinating…" Harry drawled as he watched his male friend gave the weapon a few practice swings before going through the motions of an intricate style, likely one of his families creation as Harry couldn't place any of the starting or finishing motions of the techniques.

"It seems to suit you much better than the daggers, that much is certain." Hermione stated as she watched the boy complete his pattern before sheathing the blade and shoving it into his own personal pocket dimension. "That it does, Hermione, it's like finding a long lost friend." Draco stated as he nodded his head towards Harry in thanks of the ornate weapon.

Harry shrugged his shoulders demurely as the statue they were sparring against stalked towards its pedestal. The black haired Snake Sage sealed the statuette back into his arm before the three Royals left the room and stealthily making their ways back to the dungeon, careful to dodge Albus and Shacklebolt who were holding a meeting on the third floor in the hallways. Harry left a clone hiding under Meseigakure to listen in on the twos conversation, having been out of the loop on Dumbledores machinations for too long in his opinion. 'Let's see what you are up to, old man.'

=+FoStA+=

Andddddddd that's a wrap for this chapter. Don't make me beg for reviews folks! Tell me what you think, gimme an idea, tell me it sucks and you hate me, I don't care just review!


	8. Rebirth of a Dark Wraith

From one Snake to Another

Chapter 8; Rebirth of a Dark Wraith

I do not own ANYTHING related to either Naruto, Harry Potter or anything else I might reference. Ziltch, Zippo, Notta thing.

AN:/ Sorry about the quality of the story, guys and girls. I am writing this mostly out of my head and publishing without a beta. I'm trying to keep the 'power-ups' within reason, though Harry, Draco and Hermione are still nowhere near close to Dumbledores power level. Think of it like the anime DBZ, at the beginning of the series Goku had a power level of 9000, while at the end of GT it was over a billion. Dumbledore is closer to a billion while Harry and his crew are still in the tens of thousands. The black knights are just in the millions. :] (no, DBZ will NOT be making an appearance in this mash up.)

If you would like to Beta this story, or even bounce a few ideas off of me, don't be scared to send me a PM, I'll try to respond to each and every one.

To everyone who reviewed; I LOVE YOU GUYS

=+FoStA+=

The invisible clone clung to the walls as it stealthily crawled towards the two men, its movement muffled completely by a dampening charm. Long black hair was tied and stuffed into its shirt so that it wouldn't touch the two men of power that continued to talk in the corridor.

"It is going to be a few months, but it is my theory that Voldemort will be making his way back to the magical world. Have the Auror's and Hitwizards under my control begun to prepare themselves for the coming war?" Albus asked quickly as Harry finally made it to a spot where he could eavesdrop on the conversation without being discovered.

Shacklebolt didn't reply, merely nodding at the elder man's words as his eyes scanned the area after he held up a hand to silence his master. "We shouldn't be speaking on matters of such sensitivity in a place like this, Albus, what on earth possessed you to even call me to a meeting here?"

Albus smiled in a grandfatherly fashion before quickly drawing his wand, "Crucio! Do not question me, Kingsley; it is not your place to decide where we have our meetings, that right is mine." Albus snarled as he kneeled down and gripped Shacklebolts' face. "Now, are they ready for war?" The headmaster asked again, his eyes flashing an orange-red color as the black lines spread from his sockets.

Kingsley nodded after the cruciatus spell was released, panting for breath as he curled into a little ball. The shadow clone sighed as it watched the spectacle, having grown to slightly respect the defense teacher only for it to be completely dashed.

'I don't know why I thought he would be a good addition to Akatsuki; the man is already the pawn of one of my greatest enemies. Hn, so be it.' The clone thought to itself as it began to ponder the headmaster's words. 'I think the original needs to hear this now as opposed to later.' And with that, the clone used a silent Shunshin to remove itself from the hallway before dismissing itself, allowing Harry to recall the conversation and torture with utmost clarity.

Albus scoffed at the downed man before walking away quickly, his eyes fading back into twinkling blue. He of course didn't notice that his robes were currently on fire for one reason or another.

=+FoStA+=

Bellatrix groaned as she stared at the pile of paperwork needed to be complete. "You know, Master gave ITACHI the order to create a muggle organization, not me. Why am I stuck with the paperwork?"

Itachi, as if summoned just by mentioning his name, walked into Bellatrix's office with a sardonic grin on his face. "Because you are the one who knows more of the… science behind the operation than I. You are Harry's _Sinistre _after all, while I am his _Manus_." Itachi answered her previous question while he began to walk around the office and eye its contents curiously.

"You have rearranged your office three times this week, Bellatrix." Itachi noted as he finally took his place in the seat across from Bella's desk, a small smile still on his face as he eyed the woman. Bellatrix grunted in an unladylike fashion as she glared balefully at the man across from her. "I can't help it. It always seems so… lacking." She murmured as she signed one of her many false names to the legal paperwork.

"So, have you secured us a few buildings to install the clinics yet?" Bellatrix asked as she finally gave up on the paperwork for a moment, conjuring two glasses with a wave of her hand before filling them with gleaming white juice, courtesy of the white 'apples' that grow around the Asylum. Itachi took the glass gratefully and sipped its contents before replying.

"Yes, fifteen locations in the United States and twenty here in England, as stated earlier I was not able to infiltrate Russia to instill the program there as well. The Spanish states around the world are a bit reserved on our proposal, but Japan is fully on board with the operation." Itachi drawled as he withdrew a map of Earth from his sleeve, pointing out each location as well as noting that each of the blueprints were sealed individually in each dot on the map.

"Perfect. What of the Nuclear Energy Removal procedure?" Bellatrix rattled as she finished her glass of juice before banishing the glass to the void. Itachi shook his head in the negative. "Only Japan is interested at all, It seems they themselves have been trying to remove the reactors but have no other means to mass produce energy like the rest of the Super Powers of this world."

Bellatrix sighed at the news before nodding her head, returning to the paperwork a few moments after Itachi dismissed himself from her office. "I have been neglecting my time in the Labs lately… Didn't master mention something about a cursed armlet beneath the Room of Gathering?"

Any excuse to get out of paperwork was a good one in her eyes.

=+FoStA+=

Lucius sighed as he read the latest letter from his son Draco. The boy had droned on and on about what they were learning in and out of class, whether it be spell or swordplay. Lucius was proud of his only son, but the blond youth certainly knew how to rattle on about insignificant subjects. 'Why must he rant about every little thing? This is Narcissa's fault, no doubt.' Lucius moaned in his head as he thought of his wife, who was just beginning to show signs of pregnancy.

"Darling, where are you?" Narcissa's voice called out from down the hall, the man having given her the slip to hide away in his study. Lucius groaned again before calling out. "In the study, dear. Just reading over Draco's most recent letter." The Malfoy Patriarch called as his wife finally walked into the room.

"How is our son doing? I hope he is staying out of trouble, I have had a hard enough time not going to the school to strange the deputy headmistress after the last spectacle." Narcissa droned as she took a seat next to her husband, pulling his arm close to her in a loving embrace.

Lucius smiled at his wife gently before bringing up a subject he was a bit reserved of bringing up. "Dear, I don't have good news…" Lucius began, "It seems Voldemort walks the earth once again. A large portion of the Death Eaters I am still acquainted with have disappeared much like they did during the first war. They will come soon to find out why I did not receive notice with my Dark Mark." He spat as he stared at his now clean left arm.

Narcissa bit back a gasp as she held her hands to her mouth in shock. "But he-he died!" she practically screamed as she almost fell backwards out of her chair. "What will we do? Our home is not secure enough to withstand a siege…"

"I have spoken with your sister on the subject, the moment Draco returns for winter holidays; we are moving the entire Manor to Asylum One." Lucius stated as he looked from his wife to stare out of the large window that overlooked his yard. The green and silver bloomed trees that Itachi had provided for him were truly amazing, providing both protections from intruders and bearing wonderful fruits year round in extreme abundance.

"We may be protected here, but not enough… We are a growing family that is protected by one of the most powerful organizations in the world, we will be fine. I have my duties as a seated member of Akatsuki to fulfill, not to mention that it would provide you with the opportunity to spend time with your remaining family members any time you wish."

Narcissa looked torn on the matter, her face scrunched up in worry. "You are sure we will be fine? That these people will not use you like he-who-must-not-be-named?" She inquired of her husband as she curled up against him as he continued to overlook his property.

"They will not. Akatsuki is more along the lines of a neutral military force that sells its uses out to the highest bidder. I will be putting myself in a few risky situations, but it is nothing I can't walk away from." Lucius admitted, tilting his head as he grabbed the glass of wine that rested on his chair side table. Narcissa mimicked the man and poured herself a glass, nursing it gingerly as she lost herself in her thoughts.

"We will be fine, dear. Do not worry, everything will work itself out." The blond man stated as he hugged his wife tightly to his chest, resting his chin on her head as the two continued to ponder the future.

=+FoStA+=

Hermione panted in exhaustion as she kneeled on the ground, having just ended the latest sparring session between herself and Harry, who didn't even look winded in the slightest. "Harry, how are you so good at this?" Hermione asked between pants, finally rolling over to seat herself on the ground and gratefully accepting a green potion from Harry.

"Well, it's just years of experience you could say." Harry admitted before staring down at his right palm in concentration. A bright violet flame flickered into existence, hanging precariously between his hands as he raised his left to cradle the small orb in the center of the small blaze.

Hermione watched as Harry continued to experiment with the fire before questioning him. "Harry, just what is that? When are you going to tell me what is going on with you?"

Harry gazed at the girl for a moment before his eyes drew back to the orb, "Soon, Hermione. Soon. Would you like to learn the art of Pyromancy?" Harry inquired as he began to juggle three small violet balls of flame. Hermione shrugged her shoulders as she sealed her blade and shield into her pocket dimension.

"Of course I would like to learn. How about an explanation first though?" Hermione quipped as she scooted closer to Harry to get a better look at the oddly colored fire. "Well, the Flame here is something I… Inherited, you could say, from a powerful sorceress long dead. She left a small portion of her soul inside the crimson statue we have been sparring against, one that contained knowledge of Pyromancy as well as the techniques involved." Harry explained as he held his right palm away from the two, a small jet of dark purple flames shooting from the small orb that hovered above his palm.

"It does not drain your magic reserves like most forms of sorcery, instead drawing its power from your soul itself. The spark of life itself began with the flame, all-consuming and powerful. Man rose from the flames as did the gods of ancient times, but only a few were able to wield it like this." Harry finished as he held the sphere towards Hermione for her to grasp.

The first year Slytherin held out her hand slowly, not wanting to be burned by the oddly colored element before she felt a tug on her very being as an orb of bright red and orange embers erupted from her hands. "It seems you have a powerful flame as well. Is it because of the ancient sorcery at work, or something else?" Harry mused as he watched Hermione experiment with the orb of condensed inferno.

"It is a part of you now, just as your organs or body parts. The flames are untamable, supposedly, playful and fierce with no sense of right and wrong. Do not let it consume you like it has consumed so many others, Hermione, it is a fate worse than death." Harry warned as his first friend began to stare at the coiling and writhing pyroclastic flame that writhed in her hands.

"I… This is wonderful, Harry! Just how do I even use it though?" Hermione questioned, standing from her seated position with renewed vigor, eager to practice with her newly gained ability to wield the ancient art of Pyromancy.

The two continued to practice well into the night, missing curfew easily by a few hours. Professor Slughorn was all but brain dead at this point; Dumbledore having removed his thrall far too late to save the man's greatly faded intelligence, let alone talent for potions. The Prefects of Slytherin knew that Harry, Hermione and Draco would sneak out, but they didn't care in the least seeing as they were such outstanding students. Harry thanked the Gods for illusions; they made his life almost too easy when dealing with such simple minded folk.

The next morning was rough on the two of them at the leering gazes Draco kept sending their way, causing the boy to roll his eyes. "Draco, we are eleven years old. Quit being a pervert, Ero-chan." Harry grumbled as he poked at his breakfast, a dish consisting of Tamagoyaki, which is a rolled omelet served with grated radishes, and a bowl of miso soup to wash it down.

Draco scoffed at the notion. "I am no pervert, Potter, but we all know that you two cannot stop yourself from snogging yourselves senseless, there is even a betting pool in Slytherin on who can catch you two in the act!" The blond defended himself as he ate his own breakfast, Oatmeal with a few slices of toast.

Hermione was blushing all the while, sputtering as she tried defending herself and Harry, "T-that does not happen! He just teaches me techniques and helps me improve myself!" She finally rattled out after her voice failed her a few times in embarrassment.

Harry was not amused by the joke but did not comment any further on it, instead focusing on the owls that had begun to pour through the Great Hall. Harry had Itachi purchase him an owl when he noticed that he himself neglected to purchase one while most recently being in Diagon Alley. A snowy white owl flew majestically through the air before it gently laid the contents of its delivery down in front of her owner, letting out a small bark before landing on the boys shoulder.

Harry grinned slightly and gently stroked the top of Hedwig's head with his thumb, feeding the white fowl a piece of bacon as he did so. "Thank you girl, I don't know what I would do without you." The owl hooted in delight as a response before taking off with a few more slices of bacon in her beak. The black haired boy looked down at the contents of the parcel Sirius had sent him, mostly projects that needed his approval as well a package containing two potions that Harry felt would be needed very soon.

The three continued to enjoy the others company as they made their way to Herbology, the first lesson of the day for them. Harry noticed the look in Albus's eyes this morning, having seen that look in many others throughout his many years. 'Something is going to happen soon, and he is going to be to blame.'

=+FoStA+=

The rest of the first half of school came and went quickly, the children all lining up to return home for a few weeks to enjoy the winter solstice with their families. Harry was busy telling Hermione that he would be fine and for her to keep in touch with him using the charmed mirror he gave her and Draco, just in case anything happened to either of them.

"Harry, you have taught me so much in the past few months, do you honestly think I am going to have trouble in the mundane world?" Hermione quipped as she held her hand on her hip, the other sparking up into flames for a split second as if to prove her point. Harry sighed before nodding his head, "You know that is not the point. Voldemort could return at any moment if Dumbledore is to be believed, I don't want him doing anything to you."

Hermione sighed before she too nodded her head solemnly. "Do not fret, Harry, we will get through this." The bushy haired girl murmured before pulling the startled Sage into her arms, the ebony gauntlets still in place underneath the custom gold hemmed robes that Harry had made for her to wear under her chest piece and over the rest of her armor.

Her school robes would go over the rest of the ensemble, allowing the young witch to conceal the armor that she has taken to wearing constantly. Of course, students noticed the gauntlets and grieves but did not dare comment on it after a few nasty looks from Draco and Harry sent them scattering on the four winds.

The cloth was weaved with the strongest fire protection spells as well as a bullet/arrow stopping spell that nullified the velocity of any projectile that had a mass smaller than herself, though it would not stop enchanted projectiles or many magic spells. Her shield and sword were kept in pristine condition after Harry cast a few more enchantments over them, allowing his bushy haired friend to channel her flame magicks through the tempered black blade. The style of the robes was designed after the ancient witch that parted with portions of her soul to power the protective statues that overlooked the underground city.

"Of course, I am doing all I can to negate his every move before he can make them, but running blind can only get me so far. Just contact me when you get home to let me know your safe, alright?" Harry asked as he pulled himself from the embrace of his female friend.

"You know I will! Well, see you later Harry, don't want to keep my parents waiting too long!" Hermione said before she began to walk away quickly while waving one hand over her shoulder to Draco as he too left the area with his parents. Lucius and Harry had finally met in person and got along swimmingly well after the man spied the ring on his left little finger.

Harry sighed before turning on his heels, departing from Hogsmeade station with his cloak billowing behind him. While the rest of the students would be home with their families for the yearly celebrations, Harry himself would be delving into the ruins of ages long past in hopes of deciphering the many riddles of the ancients and cause as many problems for Dumbledore as he can. 'After I finish setting up a Lab in the Izalith ruins, of course.' Harry thought to himself, the weapons stolen from the demons running through his mind.

His Chokuto was still on the pedestal deep within the ruins of the city, where it would remain as a testament of his accomplishment. 'It's not as if people delve into the ruins of an aeon old stronghold filled to the brim with demons, after all.' Arrogant thoughts aside, Harry was rather happy with recent developments, whether they be mundane, magical, chakra related or of Pyromancy.

Harry could wield the ancient flame proficiently, though Hermione had taken to the techniques far easier than Harry. Being Water and Earth natured with a minor wind affinity made using the flame very difficult for Harry, who still struggled with Katon chakra thanks to his conflicting natures.

The Shinobi made his way to the ruins under the cover of Meseigakure, having sealed away his belongings into his arm for his extended stay in the soon to be built laboratory. Dumbledore was under the assumption that Harry left the castle under the guardianship of Itachi Uchiha and Sirius Black thanks to the ever useful Shadow Clone technique.

The construction of the research facility only took a few hours; though getting the geothermal generators online in the large room that previously contained the carmine statues was a bit of a task. Trying to avoid massive damage to the body while setting up the power stations was an arduous and risky procedure for the youthful Sage, coating his body in the Flames now tied to his very being the only option when it came to installing the core to the reactors thanks to the ability to negate the intense heat with his own.

A few rooms were created to house the medical equipment necessary to study the bodies of the many creatures slayed by Harry while one was dedicated to creating a forge capable of smelting down the weapons of the demons as well as study the nature of the metals contained within.

At the end of the day, Harry finally stopped to relax after spending hours and almost all of his magical reserves and chakra to create a base of operations though it would take many more days to make it fully up and running. A room designed to match the one in Asylum One was something the black haired preteen was glad he created after he realized he greatly missed his first true home.

"Summer vacation is going to be a mess." Harry sighed as he thought of his long term plans for the future while he rested in his conjured bed, going through his nightly rituals before his mind began to wander too far. "Dealing with the warfront should be interesting enough, but I dread when it is time to open the cancer clinics. It can be rough running a criminal organization from the shadows, I already need a break." Harry slurred as his eyes began to droop, the green and gold speckled orbs dulling as they closed.

=+FoStA+=

"Thank you all for coming on this wonderful day, it means the world to my company and me that so many of you have made it here for the opening of our first clinic. My name is Rose Atrum, one of the three founders of Donum Misericordiae, and as our name implies, we are a charity organization committed to ridding the world of cancer and other malicious diseases that addle the human body, including AIDS, HIV, Alzheimer's and many others. Already more clinics are being opened around the world, each committed to the healing of Man's many wounds."

Bellatrix and Itachi were both dressed as muggles for the occasion of the first clinic being opened, both members of Akatsuki being incredibly uncomfortable in the restrictive clothing. Itachi's black suit contrasted greatly with the man's pale skin but complimented his eyes and hair that were of the same shade of ebony.

The Black chose a simple ash-gray and green dress for the occasion, her hair being completely straight and eye color changed to a hypnotic emerald to keep the mages that might be present off of her trail. She was dead to the magical world after all, no need to let them know otherwise.

Bellatrix, under the alias Rose Atrum was able to hire dozens of recent graduates from Beuxbatons over the course of a few months, each trained to administer the medications that Harry and herself had concocted after almost a year of studying the various ailments that pecked away at the life of countless men, women and children.

Itachi was able to help the process along by funneling a few thousand of galleons into the many mediwitches coffers as an incentive to accept the job offer when Bellatrix approached them, each eager to start if only in greed at the thought of the money involved. Nations with the larger population centers were going to be the first to receive the facilities and medications, each building capable of seeing upwards of a few thousand people a day thanks to the system Itachi and Bellatrix were able to come up with, processing ten people at a time for ailments that matched.

Cancer patients would be grouped together by the type of cancer as well as the stages involved in the terminal illness to be treated at one time. Those closer to dying and those on deaths doorstep were seen first, leaving the ill folk that passed through Donum Misericordiae in a recoverable condition with free dosing of non-narcotic medicines to dull the pain of the regeneration process.

The Red Cross organization was one of the major benefactors in the development of the facilities and medications en masse after seeing the results of the miracle cures created by the criminal organization, not that any of the world knew what went on behind the scenes. While Harry may have instigated a world war so that he might isolate England from the world, he was not going to sit back with his head in the sand while people were dying of illnesses that he could develop cures for.

When questioned on it by Bellatrix, Harry simply shrugged his shoulders. "I am not going to have the world suffer like Tom and Dumbledore would have. I may have my own agenda to push but a little good will now will go a long way in the future when it comes time for Akatsuki and its members to step into the role of leadership."

Representatives of the many nations that the clinics were going to be available in were present for the monumental day, eager to see the results for their own eyes on if the talk of a cure for many different ailments was true or just an elaborate hoax. Japan and Denmark were the two countries to practically fall over themselves when the first case of cancer was announced to be fully removed from the afflicted body of the patient.

It was a good day for the world, regardless of the war that continued to be waged in the Pacific Ocean between the two world powers of Russia and the United States. Already word was being spread of an escalation between the nations after peace talks once again failed thanks to the baby faced president of the US that 'inherited' the title from the late George Bush Sr. Rough times were ahead of the world, but they would be facing it with hope now that they had a small light in the ever growing darkness.

=+FoStA+=

Gellert Grindlewald had patience in mass amounts, that much was absolutely certain. Years of dealing with Albus Dumbledore and subsequently the problems that the man seems to attract to him like moth to the flame needed to be adapted to.

The problem between the nations Gellert and Albus controlled was not something they had anticipated, the conflict having almost completely destroyed their grasps on the two nations. Grindlewald had been ousted from his position as the shadow president the moment his puppet George Sr. was assassinated, leaving the mass murderer without his main source of income. That little bit tested his once absolute patience.

The years had dragged on since his imprisonment in Nurmengard, built atop the very ruins his most ancient family resided, though they were not unproductive. Many mysteries of the magical world were unraveled in the very halls that held him hostage as the Dark Lord turned prisoner continued to delve into the secrets of the human body and mind.

Theories had been broken left and right when Albus was present in the very beginning of his stint as lord of Germany, though the progress had stagnated to a halt the moment Gellerts lover was elevated to the status of the 'Lord of Light' and returned to his home of England to become Headmaster of Hogwarts and Chief Muggwump of the Wizengamot.

Gellert grumbled to himself as he continued to pour over the medical chart in his hands, his icy grey eyes scanning the documents with rapt attention. The elderly man was certain that within months as opposed to years, Dumbledore and he would reside in completely new bodies capable of utilizing the full extent of their magical cores and expanded souls as opposed to mere fractions like the frail human bodies they currently resided in. "The numbers look right, I suppose it is time to initiate phase two of the project. I'll tell Albus the good news, hopefully he will break away from his temper long enough to come visit."

The former Dark Lord wandered away from the laboratory as the beginning phases of the bodies' construction came underway, building upon two fine specimens of muggle descent, their souls having long ago parted to the Fields of Elysium to rest. A jaunty tune from the early thirties sprung from the strange man's lips as he whistled while walking away from the laboratory, a spring in his step that wasn't present even a day ago.

=+FoStA+=

If there was anything Tom Marvolo Riddle Jr. wanted anything more in the world at the moment, it would be the head of this 'Uchiha Itachi' for all of his transgressions, not to mention the Potter brats. When the serpent completed his body, Voldemort was elated to finally be amongst the living once again, eager to return to his reign of tyranny and destruction. It was not to be, however, as all of his hidden stashes of gold were completely depleted, not to mention the betrayal of his once loyal follow Lucius Malfoy.

His second option was to go to his most fanatic follower, Bellatrix, but that too was not to be. Bellatrix had been 'slaughtered' with the two LeStrange brothers during the latest break in at Azkaban, though those three were the only members of his inner circle to perish that night. Many of Tom's followers had already felt the man's rage after being held under the cruciatus curse for hours on end, enough to drive a good number of the cannon fodder members into insanity.

"My Lord, I had no idea of his betrayal, I swear!" Thomas Nott screeched at the top of his lungs, his pain receptors almost breaking the threshold of critical condition. It felt as if needles of varying sized were being driven into every orifice of his body after being dipped in molten steel, as if daggers of the fires of hell itself were stabbing into him millions of times a second. The pain was unlike any other time he was held under the Crucio spell, the pain and agony being boosted to multiplicities of its previous power.

"Do not lie to me, Thomas; it is unbecoming of a servant to speak such falsities to his Lord!" Voldemort sneered as he increased the power behind his spell. The Serpent of the Abyss had given him the perfect vessel to reside in, one far better than the body he was born with. Long black hair adorned the man's head, pulled back away from his aristocratic face that gave off the look of nobility not even seen in the Royal Family of England.

His nose was of perfect shape as were his eyes, though the once beautiful blue orbs were now an eerily glowing crimson that seemed to peer into the very soul and always find the observed lacking in every way. A strong jawline gave way to a long neck, covered in strange black scales that held his soul into place, a final gift from the eldritch abomination that crafted his body from scratch.

A suit of antiquity covered the Dark Lord from head to toe, as if they were pulled directly from the Edwardian era of the United Kingdom. A vest and undercoat woven of Acromantula silk rested beneath an overcoat created by a mixture of Babylonian Kalkreeth dragon skin and thestral hair. Pants of articulate quality covered the man's waist from view, two straps of leather adorning his right side where bottomless enchanted pouches hung, ready to be accessed at any given moment.

Voldemorts feet were covered by finely crafted shoes with metal end-caps covering the toes in a sharp point, capable of easily punching a hole straight through robe and flesh alike. A cloak crafted of Kalkreeth dragon skin with notice-me-not enchantments powerful enough to obscure the man's presence from all not bearing the dark mark, a good defensive measure for the pesky Hitwizards and Auror's that patrolled the streets daily in Magical England, though here in Albania that wasn't a problem.

The former wraith looked down at the catatonic man as he slumped into insanity, his body crumpling on itself as if a puppet cut from his strings. Members of the Death Eaters watched with bated breath as one of their members left the realm of the living moments after the spell released itself, facing growing as pale as the bone masks that hid their visage from the world.

The smell of decay and waste filled the air as the body began to rot away rapidly, leaving the skeletal remains of Thomas Nott bare to the world as the floor beneath him began to fester strangely. The black mass beneath the skeleton rose in rivulets of putrid sludge and clung to the skeleton as organs and muscles of dark matter animated the husk left behind. A hood grew from the back of the dark creatures' neck and covered the skull of Thomas as the empty eye sockets began to glow much like Voldemorts.

The rib cage of the creature was as grotesque as the putrid substance that it was made of, covering its organs from view and armoring its delicate 'flesh' from damage. An aura of darkness seeped from the creature in an effect akin to a Dementors ability to suck the happiness straight out of a person just by being in its vicinity. Many of the Azkaban escapees that fled from the prison after their freedom at Voldemorts hands shrunk in on themselves as the creature stood from its presence on the ground, not a sound coming from it as it tested its body for any flaw.

"Pathetic. Truly and absolutely pathetic, the lot of you. I have awaited the day of my return for eleven long years in the void between life and death as a mere fragment of a man, and not one of you, NOT ONE, sought me out. My inner circle has gone from nine members to four, my resources completely vanished, my empire in ruins… can you comprehend with your tiny minds the absolute RAGE I FEEL?!"

The twenty or so Death Eaters gathered before the man cowered in place, some having already soiled themselves due to the shroud of cruelty that clung to the resurrected man akin to a second skin. A miasma of black ichor wafted from Voldemort after a few moments, encompassing the entire room in its thick embrace. Screams tore through the strange silence as member after member of Voldemorts forces slumped to the ground, leaving glowing white spheres suspended in the air.

One by one, the spheres were grasped by tentacles of the black miasma and drawn towards the Dark Lords body. The orbs began to vanish in whisps that surrounded Tom's body and began to merge with his skin, disappearing completely from view as the shroud of black faded out of existence. A dark and foreboding chuckle broke the silence as Voldemort clutched his stomach as if in pain.

The descendant of Salazar Slytherin slowly straightened himself, his eyes glowing much brighter than before he consumed the souls of his followers, bloody crimson lighting up the room shaded black by shadows. "Soon, I will be ready. Soon, the world shall learn to fear me more than ever before!" the demented man roared as the bodies slumped around him began to fester and dissolve much like Thomas Nott's did.

=+FoStA+=

Harry resisted the urge to scream profanities as he rolled between the legs of the behemoth knight he found himself face to face with after delving into the canyon rather close to the Vitrified Coliseum that he was deathly afraid of approaching. The mammoth sized knight was covered from head to toe in stone armor that was covered in moss and chips, giving Harry the impression that this too was an animated guardian left over from the ancients that he found himself chasing after in a feverish pursuit.

The halberd the Stone Knight wielded was much more agile that the Catching Poles the Titan Demons as he named the black monstrosities he encountered in the Izalithian ruins, catching Harry off guard more than once as he continued to use his hiding like a mole technique to his advantage. After a week of training in the ruins nonstop with Kage Bunshin to speed the process up, Harry was able to sink into any solid surface exponentially quicker than he could before, now able to become 'one' with the earth element and travel at double the speeds he could before.

While this had its traveling perks as opposed to moving on the ground level and jumping through the trees, Harry had grown sick and tired of always smelling like he just got out of a mud bath. "You are going to be a trophy in my bedroom after I am through with you, Knight!" Harry shouted as he charged a large amount of his will power into the indigo colored flame that decorated his right hand. The Sage pushed his hand forward with great force as flames of purple and dark orange hurled at the stone animaton left behind by the guardians of the ancient forest grove, condensing the inferno into a sphere before coming into contact with the chest plate of the being.

Two more swipes of its halberd through the smoke let Harry know that his attempt ended in failure, flipping backwards twice as he watched the pole smash into the ground with tremendous force, leaving a crater in the wake of the blow. 'Yeah, letting that hit me would be a bad idea I suppose.' Harry thought to himself as he flicked through eight handseals before slamming his hand into the ground.

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu: Ryuuchi no Yggdrasil!" Black fuinjutsu script began to spread along the ground as a tuft of smoke large enough to cover the area in its smog erupted from the seal as an eerie, almost mechanical hiss filled the air. Harry leapt backwards into the smoke, landing atop the three headed wooden serpent that he imparted a portion of his own soul within, much like the sorceress that left behind her legacy in the statues.

Unlike a normal created summon like Manda2, a pet project of Orochimaru's and Kabuto's, Ryuuchi no Yggdrasil was the cultivation of creating a sentient being created and maintained through Mokuton techniques. The Serpent, if it could be called that due to its nature as a self-sentient plant, had three massive heads much like Harry's Runespoor familiar and a length that spanned twenty feet.

The fangs of the snake secreted a poison derived directly from the nature chakra that coursed through its chakra coils and mind, capable of decaying the magical cores and physical bodies of those afflicted by the poison, death occurring within hours of the bite being inflicted unless given the antidote immediately. Sadly, the poison would do no good against an opponent that seemed to be carved from granite.

The horned middle head lashed forward and slammed into the stone guardian, who dropped its halberd and shield to grasp the branched horns in a death grip, bracing its body and lowering its center of gravity to slow the halt of the head to a stop. With a massive heave, the stone animaton lifted the entire serpent and slammed it into a nearby wall, leaving rubble and dust raining down on the gorge the fight was taking place in.

The wooden snake shook itself rapidly to remove the large boulders that had landed atop of it and began to hiss angrily at the stone guardian, who had the audacity to spread its arms then wave its right hand forward in a 'come here' gesture. Harry blanched at the towering golems rudeness, almost amused at the humanesque gestures it seemed to know. 'Ohhhh, now you're going to get it, pebbles-for-brains!'

"Mokuton: Chie no Bihimosu! (Behemoth of Wisdom!)" Harry bellowed, slapping his hands together in a prayer-like fashion. The technique was one Harry was most proud of creating, capable of linking his mind with that of Ryuuchi so that the two could strategize and collaborate their techniques to a deadly degree in fractions of a second due to the synapsis of both Harry and Ryuuchi firing triple the speed of their previous rates.

Tendrils of fleshy wood sprung from Harry's back and merged with the head of the middle serpent as the left and right head of Ryuuchi fanned out to give the creature a complete three hundred and sixty degree field of vision.

The center head began to concentrate a large sphere of energy in its mouth, aiming directly at the show off of a Golem, who had picked up its halberd and shield at this point, hunkering down on its spot in a crouch so that its shield could cover its entire body. The deadly stone spear-like weapon was held at a ready position so that if the serpent got too close, it could impale it without risking any critical damage to its main body.

'You know, I highly doubt that little shield is going to stop this little recreated technique of mine.' Harry gloated to himself as black and white chakra began to condense into the sphere in front of Ryuuchi's center mouth before the serpent consumed the sphere.

A second later and a beam of unbridled power erupted from the snout of the wooden reptile, impacting the shield of the stone guardian with tremendous force and sending the suit of armor into the wall behind it. A large cloud of dust erupted from the canyon much like when the serpent had impacted the wall, causing a large smile to appear on the preteen Hogwarts students face.

Ryuuchi no Yggdrasil surged forward as the left and right heads coiled themselves around the slowly standing guardian, holding its arms to the side as Harry released the Behemoth of Wisdom technique. Harry sprung from his position atop the center head and rocketed towards the golem, his hand glowing a strange green color reminisce of Iryo chakra. His hand made contact with the helm of the mighty creature before it started to steam and hiss under his grasp. The rest of Harry's body came to a halt as he used his internal energy to cling to the body of his newest enemy.

The moment the Sages hand came into contact with a helm, the fight went from purely physical to purely mental. The soul of a powerful warrior from eons long passed clung to the armor, having occupied the suit of protective gear as a second body of sorts after the first hollowed away.

Images of his own death flashed through his mind as the stone being put all of its intent to destroy Harry at the forefront of its mind, its body shaking heavily to try and dislodge the two serpents that coiled around his arms and hands.

The guardian put up a valiant fight but it was for naught as Harry pulled the beings consciousness from its artificial body, using his expansive knowledge of the soul arts to absorb the energy holding it together into his own undeveloped core.

The stone suit of armor fell to individual pieces as Harry landed lightly on his feet thanks to constant reinforcement of his muscles by the sage energy that permeated his coils. "I suppose it is true after all, the legend never dies." Harry stated as he began to seal the portions of the suit away in a spare storage scroll, already thinking of ways that this suit of armor could be put to use. "Oh yes, this is going to be wonderful. Albus had better watch himself in the coming days."

=+FoStA+=

Albus Dumbledore was having a good day indeed; the first in months since he had found out Harry Potter was still amongst the living. While he had attempted to manipulate and corner the boy in hopes to 'explain' the situation, the decrepit headmaster had been filling the Longbottoms' mind with venom and hate towards the 'Boy-Who-Lived' in hopes that his spare would remove the original, especially now that Harry was a thriving member of the Slytherin House.

"It is for the greater good; after all, the boy has fallen to the darkness and refuses to be brought to the light." Dumbledore would explain to Neville as they went over many practice spells more oriented towards hallowed magic, holy spells passed down from one wizard to another verbatim rather than leaving the spells in tomes to be discovered and tainted by the 'darkness'.

"Hastam Lustitiae! (Spear of Justice)" Neville shouted as a large beam of golden light erupted from the tip of his wand, leaving a hole the size of a nickel in the training dummy that lay subject to its might. Dumbledore clapped his hands twice at Neville's accomplishment, a smirk appearing on his wrinkled and scarred face.

"Very good, Neville, but it seems to lack the 'oomph' needed to do any lasting damage to a human being. Remember, those with a stronger will than you might simply shrug off hallowed magic, as it draws its strength from the conviction of the caster."

The chunky boy nodded his head as he placed his hands on his knees, slightly bent over and breathing heavily at the exertion caused by Holy spells. "I know, Professor, I know. I'm trying as hard as I can, but this wand refuses to obey me almost every time I attempt the spell!"

Dumbledore scoffed at the boy, a deep from marring his once cheerful face. "Excuses, excuses. Get back to work, Neville, Harry Potter is not going to just 'accident' himself, after all." The headmaster spat at the boy as he walked from the large training chambers located on the fifth floor under a powerful Unplottable charm as well as the Fidelius charm for extra precaution. 'If I could find that damned map the Potter brat and his Marauder friends created I wouldn't have to go through all of this trouble!'

The elderly man had a great sense of balance, better than most in fact, so when he tripped down the flight of stairs and subsequently fell a good flight or two of the steps on his way to the fourth floor it came as a complete, and painful, surprise. The bearded 'Light Lord' groaned as he attempted to flip himself onto his back but a few of his ribs fractured from the fall caused him too much pain to do so.

Threads of chakra wrapped themselves around the man's wrist and ankles, pulling him from the ground and suspending him in the air spread eagled, making the man yell in pain as his broken ribs were forced apart and bent backwards slightly, putting immense pressure on the old man's upper torso and lungs as it forced his muscles dedicated to the respiratory system to shut down half of his bronchial system.

A suit of armor carved out of stone appeared at the end of the hallway in the blink of an eye, making Dumbledore question his sanity as he was quite sure he did not currently possess a living statue quite like this one. Moss hung from the shoulders and halberd of the sculpture, making it seem as if it were left in the wilderness to rot for decades. Chips along the suit told a story of conflict better than any spoken word could, giving Albus the impression that the suit had perhaps been worn before even HE was present on the earth.

The stone being began to walk forward at an incredibly slow pace as Albus struggled against his bonds to no avail. The elderly man was seconds away from calling his Phoenix, Fawkes, to his aid when the structure of colossal stone became still just a foot from Dumbledore's suspended position. The strange suit of armor raised its halberd slowly, positioning the crescent on the side of the spear-head to take the man out below the belt.

Dumbledore screamed like a girl as the suit of armor abruptly disappeared just as it appeared, the deadly pole-arm being only mere fractions of an inch away from destroying the Light Lord's reproductive system. Albus found himself suddenly standing directly outside of the same room he left Neville in to train, his body undamaged in any way or form. Cold sweat dripped down the conniving man's brow, his body gripped in chills that seemed unnaturally cold.

Albus shivered involuntarily as he looked around the hall frantically, his blue eyes no longer holding a twinkle or any sense of 'good' in them, instead reflecting an inhumane alertness and focus, as if everything was capable of being dissected and filed away with just his vision like the Uchiha clan of the Shinobi realm was capable of.

After a moment the man visibly relaxed seeing as there was no threat detected in the vicinity, at least none that his overpowered mage sight could see. Harry chuckled as he watched the man's reaction to his illusion and began planning how to defame the man in public by driving him insane with his many Genjutsu techniques that were still in the development phase. 'Next time I'm going to use Kanashibari.'

The headmaster left the hall way quickly as he kept the Elder Wand aloft in his left hand, ready to fire the strongest fire spell he knew at any moving suit of armor he saw. 'This has been a complete success, who says illusions aren't a viable field of study?' Harry thought to himself in glee as he left the scene of the crime, though not before setting an invisible clone in the hallway in his place.

The clones' orders were simple. Follow Neville from the training room that Harry could not perceive and wreak as much illusory terror upon the boy as humanly possible. 'If he thinks he could kill me with whatever pathetic spells he learns from the ant of a man Dumbledore, this little brat has another thing coming.'

=+FoStA+=


	9. Weaving Chaos

From one Snake to Another

Chapter 9; Weaving Chaos

I do not own ANYTHING related to Harry Potter, Naruto, or anything else I might borrow ideas from.

AN:/ To Belle Hawk, Harry is not going to tip his hand and kill off his enemies too early, he is still nowhere near powerful enough to take on Dumbledore in any type of fight, fair or unfair. Shacklebolt and Neville are small fry's compared to Harry, so of course he isn't going to bother with them until they make an attempt on him. After all, would you go out of your way to destroy an ant that hasn't bitten you?

Nix's Warden, Havel is my favorite NPC, so of course I'm gonna add the big guy to the equation. Dumbledore has nooooo idea what he's getting himself into. And yes, the Hydra at Darkroot Basin AND Ash Lake will make an appearance! ;] I'm still trying to figure out a few of the other areas and how they would fit in with the story. I'll go ahead and tell everyone that this is set a MILLION years after Dark Souls. Dumbledore is more than just a remnant of the past. Everything, and I mean EVERYTHING, has its role.

To Impstar, Dumbledore is going to be a psychopath, no doubt. It's going to get worse as the years progress, but it is not going to be all Harry's doing. And if Harry were to go into the Narutoverse, he would easily classify as High Jounin, Low Sannin on the power levels as of this moment while Dumbledore, during his prime, would have been like Uchiha Madara during the fourth war- a god. While Harry has a few unique skills and powerful abilities, he still has almost next to none experience of his own related to combat, only that of Orochimaru's and Voldemort's. One thing that I LOVE about Orochimaru is his versatility. The man is a freaking slippery SOB, and Harry is going to be just as versatile.

To everyone else, I LOVE YOU GUYS!

=+FoStA+=

Dumbledore groaned as he stared at the ceiling of his resting chambers, a comfy little suite of immeasurable pleasure created to make the reigning Headmaster of Hogwarts feel at home. Nothing really felt like home to the man any longer, having suffered random bouts of disturbing images soaring through his heads as he attempted to converse with the few employees of his that were not completely brain dead thanks to his mind control technique.

One moment the man would be speaking to Shacklebolt about the growing number of reports pouring in from Albania, and the next he would be on the floor, clutching his head as a shrill screech would pierce his ears and cause his nose and eyes to bleed.

Well, he would think they were bleeding, but after Shacklebolt helped the man to his feet and brushed the man off, no blood was present on either man's hands or Albus's face. One moment he would be discussing curriculum plans with Trelawney, his divinations professor who was too mentally…unstable to be held under his thrall, and the next he would see the demons of hell itself rise from the ground and attempt to pull him into the abyss.

Only, they really weren't there to begin with. Albus had never been quite so embarrassed when his pet seer asking HIM if HE was okay. "Shouldn't I be asking YOU that?" Dumbledore grumpily spat as he fled from the tower the woman often holed herself up in.

Winter Holidays were meant for times of Rituals with families, joyfully occurrences and the likes, not for deep seeded insomnia and bouts of insanity. The Headmaster decided to visit his estranged brother after an embarrassing incident involving a large rubber duck, a slingshot and broken eggs.

"Aberforth, there is something VERY wrong. This duck will not stop following me around and hitting me with eggs. It just stands there, staring at me! See it, standing there menacingly?!" Albus yelped as he pointed towards the door. Aberforth stared at his brother for a long minute before he shook his head and continued to clean the many glasses in front of him. "Have you had your lemon drops lately, Albus? There is no… duck standing in the doorway."

"I have not had any since Severus went rogue and died, he was the only one who could make the calming draught correctly." Albus finally admitted as he continued to stare down the massive rubber duck that wasn't even there. The duck raised one wing and pointed the tip at its eyes before pointing it at Dumbledore.

The headmaster shook his head before bidding his brother goodbye, shoving past the rubber monstrosity and exiting out into Hogsmeade. Aberforth sighed before pulling a piece of parchment and quill from beneath the bar. 'Note to self, learn to brew calming draught.' The many denizens located at the Hogshead bar just shook their heads and went back to nursing their firewhiskey, having already grown used to the codgers eccentric behavior when they themselves attended the school.

=+FoStA+=

Voldemort grinned down at the decimated village from the hill top, watching as his force of skeletal warriors tore through the men and women like a knife through wet rice paper. Blood and ichor covered the ruined buildings as flames ripped through the wooden enclave of human life, cutting a swath of destruction through the once peaceful settlement.

Children of all sizes were converted into terrible beings much like the wraiths, only darker and more agile than their heavy hitting creators. The men that weren't completely eviscerated were transformed into the abyssal skeletons that roamed the carnage slowly, looking for more prey to feast upon and convert.

"Just a few more towns left before I completely control the country side. After the last town falls, we will storm the capital building and take over. Understand?" Voldemort hissed as the few remaining Death Eaters that were not transformed into the twisted monsters nodded quickly, not daring defy the man or step out of line in fear for their lives. 'Peons, why must I continuously surround myself with peons?'

Peter Pettigrew was not a bright man, not in the slightest. Hiding out around the Weasley residence was the smartest move the fat man could have made, having been pampered as a pet for almost a decade now. "My liege, surely that would draw the attention of the other countries?"

Peter never saw the Crucio spell coming, but he sure did feel the effects. The pain was more intense than anything the rat had ever felt before, and if he strained his eyes hard enough, Voldemort looked more like the grim reaper than he did a Dark Lord. Wails tore from the weak-minded fool's vocal chord in agony as he began to claw at his eyes and face in an attempt to alleviate the pain.

Voldemort watched with barely restrained glee as Peter gouged out his own eyes in torment, the crimson liquid that ran through his veins trailing down his face like tears. The rat's voice eventually strained itself out as he began to gurgle on his own saliva, flailing his limbs and writhing in place before he eventually went deathly silent.

"Any other questions? No? Get to work you miserable fools before you join him!" Tom Riddle roared as he waved his wand back and forth between the remaining humans. The Death Eaters scrambled away in fright, this having been the third time they watched a man die under the Cruciatus spell of their master in a week, this time it being one of his own personal butlers.

"This is getting ridiculous. Shouldn't we be doing this very thing to magical England? Or better yet the muggle population?" Rook intoned as he and his partner Bishop were finally out of earshot of Voldemort and his wicked wand. The skull mask covering his upper face did nothing to hide the fear and anxiety the man was feeling, his partner mirroring his facial expression almost perfectly.

"Do not let our Lord hear you talk like that, Rook, I do NOT want to end up like your brother or the rat." Bishop hissed as he pushed the man slightly to get him moving again, Rook having stopped to stare at the muddy doll that was trampled into the earth, scorched and covered in blood much like everything else in the ruined village. The Dark Mark hung in the sky as a reminder to the world that the forces of Darkness still went bump in the night, casting an unholy green light down on the horrendous landscape below.

"You are right, Bishop, but…" Rook cut himself off as he noticed a larger than normal snake slithering along the crimson snow and mud that covered the ground like a blanket, having sworn that the snake was watching the two of them exclusively, even if for a moment.

The members of Voldemorts forces continued to rally up the living for hours after the Dark Wraiths would track them down, most being children that were smart enough to flee at the first signs of trouble. Street urchins and the elderly were holed up on the other side of the village, away from the rest as if they were pariahs of society. No mercy was given and no life was spared, the once brilliant bastion of human life having been hollowed out and left rotten in the wake of a plague, a plague unlike anything the world had seen in a million years.

A plague that would fuel the nightmares of those hidden beneath the carcasses of their fallen brethren for the rest of their lives, an unnatural sickness that consumed the very soul itself, leaving it corrupted and without redemption. When first light broke over the ruined village, bodies rolled away to reveal frightened adults and elders who had hidden themselves cleverly from the monstrosities that decimated their homes.

Of the five hundred lives that once thrived in the settlement, only eighty or so remained amongst the living. Two hundred bodies were left to decay as the small group fled from the town towards the south, where another settlement existed that they hoped would still be standing. A fire unlike any other burned in the eyes of the victims, a fire that could only be quenched with the blood of the Dark Wraiths.

=+FoStA+=

Harry sighed in contentment as a shadow clone delivered the latest report on the 'drive Albus mad' scheme, bearing good news as always. The man had taken to rambling about giant rubber ducks and being watched constantly so much that even the first years who still didn't understand the headmasters' quirks knew something was terribly wrong.

It was the eve of the Winter Solstice, or Christmas as the Muggleborn's called it, and Harry was sure that this was the most jovial he had been all year. 'It is a shame neither Hermione nor Draco is around, I could use a good spar.' Harry drawled in his mind as he sat deep within the bowels of Izalith.

Wandering through the ruins had become one of his hobbies as he deciphered the many ancient writings that were carved throughout the many chambers. Thanks to earth manipulation and a rapidly expanding chakra capacity, Harry was able to stabilize a large portion of the underground city and convert it to a stronghold for those he would recruit to his cause.

Four story buildings carved of obsidian lay beneath the chamber that housed his Chokuto, dozens of the large structures filled with lore, weapons and armor from a time long passed. A minotaur easily two stories tall stood guard of the chambers far beneath the city proper, protecting something that Harry could still only guess about. He attempted to use his mole technique to slip passed it, but the creature slammed its massive axe down and almost severed the boys head when he was directly behind it. A quick substitution with a near-by sunlight maggot saved him from a gruesome death and entombment.

Harry continued to meditate while he waited for the results of his latest experiment to come back, having tested the metal that made up the Titanite Demons' Catch Pole, having learned the name from one of the tomes lying in the ruins.

Many shadow clones were hard at work practicing earth manipulation, though calling it 'earth' would be senseless. He was attempting to create a 'metal' release, so to speak, so that he could fuse the Titanite and Chakra alloy together to make a weapon capable of handling his chakra, unlike the chokuto which barely resonated with the lad.

Progress was slow, but Harry was confident that the nature chakra running through his coils would substitute the Raiton chakra he theorized was necessary for the elusive branch of earth techniques. All he had to go on was the memories of Orochimaru's dealing with an ancient clan from Tsuchi no Kuni, having been wiped out before the villages were created by the Sandaime Tsuchikages' ancestors.

A clone burst through the door, its pale featureless mask glowing in the ethereal light cascading down from the glowing sphere hanging deftly from the ceiling with the help of runes and seals. A grin broke across the pale boys face at the clones' revelation, pleased more than words could express at the news.

Clone and Creator walked quickly to the underground laboratory, speaking in hushed tones the entire way. "So the Kinzokuno Sousa (Metal Manipulation) techniques involve a Kekkai Tōta (Bloodline Selection), who would have thought? This is going to give me a migraine, I can already tell."

Two dozen clones scrambled around the lab in a reckless frenzy, most holding clipboards filled to the brim with equations dealing with energy consummation and transformation of nature chakra to both Raiton and Katon chakra, two types of energy that Harry still had difficulty creating within his coils.

"With these seals inscribed on your palms with the skin grafting technique used to make our storage spaces, we have determined that you could theoretically control Metal Release techniques as well as you can Wood Release with the correct combination of Katon, Raiton and Doton chakra, possibly even Crystal Release if our hypothesis is correct." The lead clone announced as he produced the final results of the week long research process. The Shinobi could hardly contain himself as he listened to the detailed description of the seals and the functions they could provide.

On his left hand, the Katon seal would be inscribed, allowing him to convert his natural chakra into the famous fire type energy while his right hand would contain the Raiton seal. As an afterthought, Harry made a mental note to attempt to recreate the Chidori if only because his current lightening techniques paled in comparison to the Lightning manipulation Hatake Kakashi and his estranged student Sasuke were capable of wielding.

The process took a few hours to complete, the five clones holding Harry in a stasis so that he didn't feel the operation struggled valiantly to keep him under as his chakra began to fight back against his bonds. Two of the sentry clones had to take the place of their downed brethren after Indigo colored chakra flared up around the boy and consumed the clones holding down his legs.

Harry groaned as he stared down at his bandaged hands after being told by the surgeon clone that they wouldn't function correctly for the next two days and for its creator to rest and enjoy the holidays with those at Asylum One. Begrudgingly the boy acknowledged the fact that he needed some time off after the clone threatened to sick Bellatrix on him, something that the Sage was almost terrified of. 'The woman can do anything she puts her mind to, whenever she can find it that is.'

=+FoStA+=

Bellatrix cackled ominously as Harry appeared inside of the apparition zone located at Asylum One, the woman rubbing her hands together while a strange aura flared around her. Harry had to take a few steps back at the creepiness rolling off of her like smog from an industrial distillery, 'That's… that's way worse than I was in the Elemental Nations.'

"Your clone has already contacted me and told me you would need… assistance throughout the next few days. I've got everyyyything lined up for you, Master." Bellatrix chirped as she stalked towards the boy she swore undying fealty to. "How about we don't and say we did?" Harry stuttered as he began to back away quicker, chakra already flowing and molding in his coils to produce a seal-less clone to Kawarimi with.

"No can do, master, I did swear to serve you faithfully for the rest of my mortal life." The deranged woman sang as she pumped chakra to her legs to increase her speed almost tenfold, blurring from her place ten feet away and appearing directly in front of Harry a split second later. "Now let's go have some lunch!"

Harry was promptly dragged away by Bellatrix as Itachi, Severus and Sirius watched with deadpan expressions. Severus sighed before withdrawing ten galleons from his robe, splitting them between the two of them. "We never speak of this. Lilith must not-"

"Not what, Severus? Know that you have a betting problem?" The recreation of Lily piped up from behind the man, her upper body appearing from the earthen wall behind them using the elemental melding technique that Harry was so fond of. Sirius and Severus jumped quickly at the woman's voice while Itachi arched a brow.

"Oh don't give me that look, Itachi, you love sneaking up on people just as much as I do." Lilith pouted as she crossed her arms over her chest like a petulant child. Sirius quickly bolted from the room at seeing that expression on her face, already knowing that no good would come of remaining in her presence. Lily may not have been much of a prankster, but Lilith could easily fit in with the Marauders and pull her own weight.

Itachi dispersed into a flock of crows, each escaping from the open window the three used to spy on the Apparition zone and the subsequent kidnapping of their leader by his deranged servant. Severus looked around as his only two safety nets escaped with a shocked, but sour expression on his face. "Traitors! Nothing but traitors!" The man yelled as Lilith grabbed the man's arms and pulled him into the earthen soup that the wall had become thanks to her active technique. "Oh pipe down; you've only done this to yourself!" Lilith giggled before the wall sealed up, dragging the two of them to Severus's personal chambers where the man would be thoroughly humiliated for the rest of the night.

=+FoStA+=

Harry sighed as he continued to be fed by his first follower in his personal chambers, having not yet announced his presence to Lucius, Draco or Narcissa yet due to his current weakness. Bellatrix continued to smile the largest Harry had ever seen as she picked up another piece of teriyaki with her chopsticks before shoving it in the boys mouth, causing him to sputter and almost choke. "Be a bit gentler, hmm? I'm already embarrassed enough about this, no need to gloat."

Bellatrix shrugged demurely before she spoke. "I can't help it; I've always had a think for nursing." Harry snorted before shaking his head, "No, you've always had a thing for torturing; don't get the two mixed up."

The Black threw her head back in laughter, her chest heaving slightly as she did so. "Oh, the two are so much alike I can hardly tell the difference, it's hard not to get them mixed up." She grinned as she set the chopsticks down. "Can I get you anything else? How are your hands feeling?"

Harry sighed as he looked down at his bandaged appendages. "Can you bring me one of the pain elixirs? I'm pumping as much Iryo-chakra as I can into the tissue but its healing at the same rate regardless. It is a bit… annoying." He admitted as he leaned down and took a sip of his White Apple juice, savoring the flavor of his labors.

Bella returned with the potion a few moments later, having used the Accio spell to summon a vial from Severus's personal laboratory, not that he would be missing one miniscule potion that Harry provided the ingredients for anyways. "Here you go, Master. How goes the progress at Izalith? Did you bring the tombs I need for research?"

Harry nodded and pointed to the seal on his inner left arm. Bellatrix reached down and sent a pulse of her unaligned chakra into the seal, producing a large stack of books that promptly fell in Harry's lap. The boy yelped as a few of the books landed roughly on his lap and hands but clenched his jaw and bore with it. "You know, you could have waited."

Bellatrix blushed and nodded her head before wandlessly levitating the many volumes of ancient knowledge from Harry's lap and sealing them away within her bottomless pouch hanging from her hip. "I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking clearly." The woman admitted as a large blush sprouted across her face. 'Please don't Crucio me, please don't Crucio me, please don't-'

"Bellatrix, I'm not going to cast the cruciatus curse on you. Who do I look like, Tom?" Harry murmured from across the table as he heard the mental chatter going through her head via the mental link they shared. "You are broadcasting your thoughts again, calm down."

The Azkaban escapee nodded her head slowly as she sat back down across from Harry, popping a piece of chicken in her mouth to give her time to think of an excuse. Harry waved it off as he began asking questions about the many projects the woman was undertaking for the Akatsuki.

Three countries were now under the clinics supervision and have cured one hundred thousand members of Japan, Holland and America of the many sicknesses that plagued them. Japan and parts of North Korea were currently undergoing the introduction of Chakra Cores with the help of the many blood clones under Itachi's command. Using genetic mapping, Itachi and Bellatrix were able to recreate the Uzumaki clans Kekkai Genkai of Longevity and Potency, utilizing half of the Uchiha and half of the Uzumaki genetic sequence to create the clones.

The Uzumaki bloodline was necessary for the entire operation, the extreme radiation the clones were facing would easily kill any non-Uzumaki who attempted to do what they were doing. The clones were each inscribed with a seal that would destroy the body with a pulse of overpowered Senjutsu chakra once the radiation levels reached too extreme, using the same energy to power the clone that would take its place.

Each clone had a separate mind and personality, completely crafted to suit each of the newly created 'humans' and their physical traits. The minds of the clones would be transferred to the next body upon death using a mixture of chakra, seals and technology so that even if one of them died, they would still be capable of continuing their jobs.

Loyalty seals were inscribed upon the tongues and the base of the skulls of each body upon its 'birth', ensuring that the clones wouldn't develop too far from the 'Hive mind' Itachi and Bellatrix artificially created for the project. Each body was capable of sexual reproduction, ensuring that the birth of real Uzumaki and Uchiha children would occur in the future. Several of Harry's projects seemed to be going almost too well, now all that was left was to enter the political ring against Dumbledore, though he doubted he had the connections currently to undergo the process.

After sharing a 'Christmas' dinner with Bellatrix, Harry was left to wander the complex under guide of ANBU clones, each grafted with the 'Cursed' seal of a new design so that they could maintain after a critical blow. The seal was crafted into their very chakra networks during the creation process of the clones, mimicking Juugo's ability of the passive gathering of Nature Chakra, thus enhancing the durability of each clone tremendously and still be capable of being dispelled by Harry, unlike Itachi and his Bloodclone network.

He was sure he holed himself up in his lab for more than four hours as he poured over the notes of his most recent procedure once more, the knowledge his clones imparted on him was hardly enough to satiate his thirst for the creation of a new metal.

A large gathering was taking place on the far eastern side of Asylum One, consisting of the Malfoy family, the Blacks and the Greengrasses, something Harry was a bit loath to intrude upon. He was technically an outsider to the strange world he found himself in, regardless of his knowledge of the Dark Lord. He was a Shinobi first and foremost, a Wizard second. He was the first of his kind and felt that the traditions of these old families were sacred, not something that should be muddied with his presence.

His line of thought ended when Draco came sprinting from the gathering once his eyes locked onto Harry, Daphne Greengrass hot on his heels in pursuit. "Oi, Potter! You were supposed to be here an hour ago!" Draco shouted across the clearing, clearly forgetting his cool façade that his father has spent a decade instilling into him. 'He must be spending too much time around his Aunt Bellatrix.'

"Sorry, it seems your… invitation got lost somewhere between the two of us, I had no idea I was supposed to appear?" Harry questioned as he closed the distance between the three of them quickly, far quicker than Daphne was used to seeing thanks to a sealless shunshin. Draco rolled his eyes at the boys light flaunting, "Quit showing off, it doesn't suit you. Are you going to come meet my family now? You can't put it off forever, even Itachi is here already."

Harry sighed before nodded his head in acceptance, bracing himself as best as he could for the coming introductions. He wanted to appear as noble as possible, but not overly arrogant like he had desperately avoiding like the plague. 'Pride comes before the fall; I am not going to make that mistake again… Damn demons, ruining all of my pillaging,' "Yes, let us get this over with. I assume we will be standing around a large fire and congregating most of the night while drinking ciders and ale, correct?"

Draco nodded as he beckoned the dark haired boy to follow him and Daphne back to the clearing to meet their families. Bellatrix was the first to greet them, standing a few feet from the gathering in wait of her sworn master, having excused herself from a rather heated discussion between Narcissa Malfoy and Gabriella Greengrass over the current affairs multiple witches and wizards were taking part in, also known as gossip.

"There you are, I was expecting you ten minutes ago!" Bellatrix sniffed as she shot the boy a simmering look, though it was more comical than scary. Harry restrained himself from snorting at the picture before shaking his head. "You know, you couldn't have been here long, we had dinner no less than an hour ago. You didn't tell me I was to be expected, either."

Bellatrix shrugged before grabbing his right arm, dragging him towards where Lucius, Daniel and Gabriel were currently standing, just a few feet away from the gathering of the females. Severus and Sirius were off to the side speaking with Itachi, not really comfortable with speaking with the other purebloods, despite Severus and Lucius's good friendship. The blond patron of the Malfoy clan turned and looked at the lad being drug by Bellatrix with a critical eye, if only for a moment.

His gaze lightened up as Harry broke himself free of Bellatrix's grip and cleared his throat slightly. "You must be Harry Potter. I have heard much about you from my son Draco and our mutual aquantance Uchiha Itachi. I am Lucius Malfoy, it is a pleasure to meet such an upstanding person such as yourself."

The blond man promptly extended his hand, which Harry grasped and shook with a firm but not overbearing grip. "The pleasure is mine, Malfoy. How are you on this fine evening? I hope you are finding everything well?" Harry asked, more implying his moving to Asylum One permanently to avoid falling under Death Eater siege. He didn't want to be obtuse about the subject, but he wasn't sure if Gabriel and Daniel Greengrass were privy to the information just yet and didn't want to be the one to break it to them.

"Everything is as well as it can be, the process was as smooth as Acromantula silk. I was hoping we could have a meeting a bit later, if that is alright with you of course." Lucius spoke with a drawl as he continued to nurse the mead in his hands heavily, the sweet aroma of juniper berries and honey wafting from the gilded horn the man was using as a cup.

The ladies of the gathering were drinking from a pouch that looked to have been made from wolves' skin and fur, containing who knew what type of liquid that they were so eager to engorge themselves with. 'Most likely one alcoholic beverage or another.'

'I thought the Malfoy family was supposed to be French? I didn't even know the French had pagan celebrations?' Harry thought to himself as he took in the environment for a moment, weighing the question in his head.

A large pyre was constructed in the center of the clearing, consisting of Ashwood most likely grown by Itachi and quickly cured by use of Katon Chakra, something that the man could mold himself thanks to having independent affinities unlike Harry. Holly was hung from the stone pillars and overhanging shafts of stone, giving it a mystic feel to the environment.

A few instruments were being manipulated by magic to play different songs and jigs, a practical application to magic if Harry ever saw one. Spheres of crimson, emerald, gold, white, silver and orange hung suspended in the air while Bayberry and holly strung themselves interchangeably between the pillars and overhang. Pale moonlight gently cascaded from the skies above, radiantly lighting the gathering as well as the fire, giving an ethereal glow to those who were bathed in its glory.

The pyre was raging fiercely, containing a mixture of pine, cedar, bayberry and cinnamon, giving the entire clearing a fascinating scent that enticed something deep within the Sage. Bellatrix tapped him on the shoulder at his slight daze, a bemused expression on her face. "He accepts, Lucius, he is just a bit exhausted after his latest project, which he has yet to divulge to me." At this she eyed the boy again, still far more comical than intimidating.

"Of course, sorry about that. I am having a rather… enlightening night, you could say. Bellatrix, would you like to dance?" Harry inquired as he felt an otherworldly feeling overcome him as he munched away on a caraway cake that was thoroughly soaked in nutmeg, roasted apples and a cider created from the spliced fruits that were abundant in the Asylum. The cake was levitating in midair as Harry ate it, a useful trick for when the hands were wounded or recuperating like Harry's were. 'This would have made a useful skill indeed in the Elemental Nations. I could have been a street performer.'

The two danced for almost two hours, having lost themselves in the music and ancient magicks at work on the sacred night of December 23rd, 1991, enjoying the company of close friends and family on such a joyous occasion. After the music started to fade, the families gathered around for the telling of multiple stories of their past, ranging from humorous tales of Sirius, Lucius and Severus's time at Hogwarts to the many different customs that their world followed at the slight look of confusion on Harry's face. Daniel Greengrass was very well versed in politics and was more than glad to catch Harry up on the day to day dribble of the Wizengamot and its many social issues.

'Voldemort cared not for the old ways, only for manipulating those that followed them.' Harry realized as he went through his various memories of the Dark Lords, only coming across two useful experiences that he would later review. Harry soaked up as much knowledge as he could from the talkative wizards and witches, eager to educate another on their ways unlike the muggleborns who scorned their traditions and mocked them at every turn.

Harry was slowly but surely beginning to understand that the problem of blood equality didn't solely lay on the purebloods shoulders, but spread amongst the entire population. The children coming to Hogwarts with no prior contact with the wizardry world would find many of their customs barbaric and backwards, while the purebloods thought that the muggleborn were diluting their culture and making a mockery of their long history.

Harry was at a crossroads on the subject, having decided that this would be the main platform for his entry into the wizardry worlds political arena, something that would stop the culling of such splendid history and culture at the hands of mundane witches and wizards brainwashed to fit into Albus Dumbledores ambitious scheme of eradicating any opposition to his rule.

Namely, he was attempting to kill of the pureblood families so that he might have a large number of moldable pawns to push his agenda, not those that chose to oppose the man and keep their traditions and culture.

Cultural differences aside, it was obvious that Dumbledore has had his scheme running full steam ahead for decades now, propagating muggleborn admixture into the undiluted family lines so he could destroy the ancient magicks that ran through his opponents cores, leaving the continuous births of moldable scions like Tom Riddle and James Potter in the wake. Tom had already cut a massive swathe out of the purebloods thanks to the first war and Dumbledore was more than eager to clean up his mess.

The night ended on a light note as the families went their separate ways, the Blacks' and Malfoys' heading to their abodes on Asylum land while the Greengrasses returned to their home in Raven's Bastion, a wizardry town twenty miles north of Godrics Hollow. Harry was left to wander around with Draco for a while longer, wanting to see how far the boy has progressed over the past week with his bow and epee.

Harry unsealed one of the crimson Izalithian statues and powered it with a bit of his Pyromancy Flame, wanting to see how quick Draco was on his feet when faced with an opponent who had a wide range of attack but a low range of defense. The blond boy was quick to capitalize on the slow movement speed of the statuette, firing off three shots of condensed magic shaped into arrows, which chipped the crimson crystal instead of bouncing off of it like the last time he faced off against one.

The statue responded by conjuring a whip of intense flame, swinging it with precision towards the boys torso and legs. Draco unsealed his epee from the runic matrix used to seal it away like fuinjutsu before expertly deflecting the lashing inferno, the tip of the longsword bastardization glowing in an azure light due to the magic Draco continued to pump into the blade.

The Izalithian slammed 'her' right hand onto the ground, causing massive pillars of fire to erupt from the grassy knoll threatening to consume the first year if not for his backwards roll that brought him barely out of the cataclysms range. Draco fired off two more shots against the statue, slamming into its head after he quickly resealed his blade away, slipping further and further out of the statues range as he pelted it with volleys of magic.

A quick enchantment on the bow after Draco redrew his wand from its holster in his sleeve allowed him to imbue each 'arrow' with the ice element, thus causing the areas of impact to freeze and hinder the fluid movement of the stone animaton. The female statue charged an orange sphere of sorcery into her hands before slamming them into her own chest as a light sheen of sizzling water quickly appeared on her 'skin'. The ice quickly sublimated under intense heat after a few seconds passed, allowing the statue to continue its onslaught of powerful fire techniques and hand to hand combat, something Draco was lacking proficiency in.

Lucius and Narcissa stood to the side as they spied on the gathering between Harry and their son, though Harry knew of their presence thanks to his chakra sensory technique. Lucius was proud of his son for his combat prowess, having not seen a fight like this in ages, not since his unfortunate venture into the forbidden forest with the LeStrange brothers during his sixth year.

The fact that Draco was not using his wand to do the fighting was a bit upsetting, but he understood that Harry wasn't JUST a wizard and would impart different skills unto his friends and followers. While they didn't come out and say it, Itachi and Bellatrix hinted that Harry was not to be trifled with least the instigator wishes for a good death and Lucius did not in fact wish for that.

As a fellow seated member of Akatsuki, he was hesitant to draw the boys wrath, himself not being proficient in any of the Shinobi techniques besides his mental arts Itachi had helped him create using his knowledge of the Yamanaka techniques.

Narcissa was torn between gasping at how violent her son could be or cheering him on as he continued to pulverize the statue that only recently began to take damage from the onslaught of attacks. She eventually decided on silently cheering him on, not wanting to distract him and end up being the reason he would be wounded.

"Harry, just what have you been teaching him? He was never this agile when I was teaching him to duel, that's for certain." Lucius muttered low enough that Draco wouldn't over hear but Harry would catch the man's words easily. "Not near as much as he is displaying right now, the Epee he is wielding might be semi-sentient. From the way he is moving, it looks like he has been wielding it for decades, not just month or so."

Harry edged away from the side of the clearing so that he could speak with Lucius while still overseeing the fight, not wanting one of his only friends to be wounded on his watch, at least not critically. "Your son is a very fast learner, Malfoy, I have to say. His skill with the wand is second only to mine in our entire year, you must be very proud of him." Harry mused lightly which drew a smile from Narcissa, though Lucius simply nodded his head.

"Of course, he is MY son after all. I was hoping to ask you about your position in Akatsuki and your intentions with my son? And please, call me Lucius; any friend of my son is a friend of mine." Lucius drawled as he watched Draco release a crescent of azure energy which exploded against the crimson statue and sent it tumbling around twenty feet away from the boy, 'her' right arm shattering into a stub after she slammed heavily into one of Harry's Dumb Apple trees.

"That's enough Draco; it is obvious you have progressed nicely since you have left for winter solstice. I will be upping the difficulty in the near future, so continue to progress at this rate and you won't have a problem." Harry called out as he stomped his right foot, sending a massive pulse of earth chakra to consume the crimson statue and the many shards of crystal left behind. The statuette appeared out of the earth in front of Harry in perfect condition, causing Draco to blanch at seeing his work all for naught.

Lucius was a bit baffled by the small display, having not seen magic like that outside of Itachi's use when he helped transfer the entire Malfoy manor to the Asylum, leaving their previous ancestral home Unplottable so that they could return after Voldemort and Dumbledore lay defeated.

"My position in Akatsuki… is a secret. My intentions with your son are only friendship, I assure you. He will benefit from my guidance, however, and if he continues at this rate will also be a seated member of our organization in a few short years." Harry stated as he resealed the crimson statue in his arm with another pulse of chakra after pressing the appendage to the statue, his hands still numb and useless from the most recent operation.

'Wandless levitation charms are useful for more than just entertainment. I wouldn't have survived the gathering without them.' Harry thought to himself as he levitated a small vial of golden elixir to his lips after pain continued to lance through his hands.

The Malfoy Patriarch nodded silently as his son walked to his side, Narcissa wrapping her arms around his shoulders once he was close enough. "You shouldn't do things like that without letting your parents know where you are going, Draco! You scared us!" The woman crowed as she pulled her son into a tight embrace.

Draco grumbled something incomprehensible under his breath while he was dotted on by his mother, Harry grinning the entire time much to the blond boy's embarrassment. "Hush up, Potter, this isn't funny in the least. Mother, enough, please!" Draco practically shouted towards the end, his face shinning almost as red as the Izalithian statues that Harry was so fond of.

Harry couldn't restrain the chuckle that slipped through his lips as he watched his friend practically get groomed by his overbearing mother, causing Draco to start grumbling under his breath again while steadily blushing. "Sorry, Draco, I couldn't resist. The look on your face is priceless."

Lucius broke the sniggering with a slight cough, nodding his head to the black haired Sage. "We must be going now, thank you for the most interesting display, Harry. Goodnight." And with that the three Malfoy's were off, leaving the boy to his own devices as his two body guard clones jumped from the tree tops once the family of three was out of eyesight.

"Good job on staying hidden, very good job indeed. The Malfoy's didn't notice a thing. Well, let us be off, I need to rest for a few hours." Harry drawled as he took off in a brisk walk towards his room inside of the Chapel, some few hundred feet away from where he was presently. He needed to rest much more than he let on, the operation having really taken its toll on him thanks to the constant chakra being pumped into his hands.

Tomorrow he would concentrate on creating his own clone network like Itachi's, already thinking of the ways he could further cultivate a hidden village in close proximity of the Forbidden Forest and still remain anonymous when dealing with Dumbledore or any of his classmates. For now, he was going to heal his wounds and begin researching into creating new techniques to add to his already massive repertoire of skills.

=+FoStA+=

That's it for this chapter folks, sorry it has taken me so long to upload. I'm having a bit of difficulty with problems in the real world, nothing too major though. Let me know what you think folks, good or bad!


	10. Broken Peace

From one Snake to Another

Chapter 10, Broken peace

I do not own anything pertaining to Harry Potter, Naruto, Dark Souls or anything else I might borrow ideas from

AN:/ I apologize for getting the time line a bit muddied in the last chapter, I will explain it a bit more in this chapter. Harry's grip of time is slightly different than the rest of the world thanks to his extended stay in Izalith. (Izalith as in the Izalith/Demon Ruins from Dark Souls)

Impstar, Voldemort is more just building his army right now from the ground up. Once get gets enough members involved using the undead warriors, he will start expanding his army to include humans and another large assortment of dark creatures, and right now he has only a select few under his control that he won't risk converting just yet.

S.k.f.f.f, I'm not really too sure if I want to pair Bellatrix with Harry. It is one of my favorite pairings, but I can't really say for sure if they are going to end up in a relationship. We will have to see much further down the road.

NIX'S WARDEN, Voldemort could be described as a bit of both, I suppose. Necromancy and the Abyssal arts seem to go hand in hand; the Dark Wraiths were twisted human beings if my theory about them is correct. Like the Oolacilians that fell to the Abyss, so will Albania. Though they will not all look like grotesque bug… things. Think of it like New Londo instead of Oolacile. Voldemort could be the Fifth King ;]

Holya, The last area of Dark Souls is The Kiln of the First Flame. It's the vitrified coliseum :]

=+FoStA+=

It was December 25th and Harry was finally glad to be rid of the bandages that covered his now fully recovered hands. He immediately began the process of reverse engineering multiple techniques using his already expansive Mokuton creations as a base, though he was only capable of creating a small senbon needle that was extremely unbalanced despite all of his effort.

Harry would not let himself be detracted from his progress, despite how difficult his undertaking might be. Hermione had asked him to have 'Christmas' dinner with her family, much to his both dismay and delight. Dismay because he would have to wear muggle clothing and 'blend in' so to speak, having grown extremely comfortable with his apparel but knew that he must make 'sacrifices' to succeed in life and friendship.

Harry was tempted to ask Bellatrix for assistance in clothes shopping but stopped short when he remembered just how much the woman loved shopping. Harry shuddered at the thought, remembering an incident that occurred just outside of the town they set up base for when they took their huge assassination mission.

It was a calm day for Harry, at least at the beginning of it. Bellatrix was growing impatient with the crowd that seemingly always moved itself directly in her path when she would try to slip by the many mulling folks that went about their daily business, infuriating the woman to the point where Harry had to stop her from killing a large number of civilians with a Bombarda spell or an explosive tag.

Bellatrix eventually pulled Harry into an unassuming shop where clothes of a darker fashion lined the walls. The demented woman immediately fell in love with the apparel and made Harry be her personal shopping bag to carry the many different outfits the woman purchased. 'Hn. Should have figured her for the dominatrix type.' Harry remembered thinking to himself as he broke away from his reverie.

A quick apparition found the boy shuffling amongst the crowd of muggle London, the streets bustling with life and energy despite the terrible shape world relation were in. Harry observed multiple Hitwizards mulling about the crowd under either heavy disillusionment charms or using muggle clothes to blend in thanks to his mutated Sharingan. The magic practically poured off of the many wizards and witches like a thick smoke, indicating their terrible control over their own energies.

A quick consultation with Hermione on clothing advise left the boys head spinning, having pulled out his two way mirror to speak with her after finding a large clothing store that didn't give him the creeps. Most of the female shopkeepers that saw him would gawk and stare, some even having the courage to try and drag him away to play 'dress up'. A few substitutions later and Harry found himself in a quaint little shop just outside of the Victoria station, which was bombed much earlier that year by the IRA.

"Welcome to the Bizarre, how may I help you… sir?" The young lady behind the desk questioned as she noticed the long black hair and slim frame before registering that Harry was male. The boy scoffed before giving her a slight glare at her obvious mishap.

"No, not quite yet ma'am, I will be with you shortly with my purchases." Harry ground out as he began to browse the many articles of clothing that hung from the multiple racks around the room. Most of the clothing was of a darker design and coloring much like the clothes that Bellatrix was so fond of, though Harry didn't mind in the slightest. 'I am sure as hell not going to go around wearing cream colored robes, that is for certain.'

Harry finally decided on a black suit with an emerald green dress shirt and silver tie. Black loafers covered his feet, something that bothered him to no end. 'These shoes have no traction, let alone stability or flexibility.' Harry mourned as he paid for his purchases forlornly, not wanting to waste money on such trivial things that he could have conjured himself.

"Have a good day… Ma'am!" The clerk called out once Harry was halfway through the door, causing him to stop midway through his step. He turned slowly to eye the sneering woman with the most hateful look he could administer before he flared his killing intent to its maximum level. The woman immediately crumpled into unconsciousness after screaming loudly, causing Harry to resume his path out of the terrible store.

'She got what she deserved, the spiteful bi-' Harry cut himself off and scolded himself for getting worked up by such an insignificant person. 'I must be losing my touch.' The black haired boy murmured to himself as he shoved passed a rather lanky man after he attempted to step into the boys way.

It was a Hitwizard in disguise, the man having recognized Harry from the many pictures of the youth already in circulation by the Daily Prophet after a few of his class mates let it leak to their parents that he was still amongst the living. Popular consensus was that the boy was a budding Dark Lord who was bent on world domination after Rita Skeeter discovered that the boy was sorted into Slytherin.

Harry doubted any amount of good faith on his part would change the bumbling woman's opinion of him, let alone the many Dumbledore supporters that no doubt flocked under Neville being the boy who lived theory despite the fact that Harry was the one marked equal. 'Well, under Dumbledores guidance, Neville COULD be considered Toms equal thanks to both of the fools being students of Albus's.'

The man stumbled a bit as Harry shoved passed him but would not let up, "Halt! Under orders of Albus Dumbledore I order you to halt!" The man shouted as he attempted to cast a silent and wandless Petrificus totalus at the boy, who used Kawarimi to switch places with the man so that he would be hit with his own spell. A large area confundus charm with 'obliviate' like properties was cast over the street Harry and the man were on so that the mundane folk wouldn't notice or remember anything strange happening.

"Alright, mister, you've made me angry. How about I show you what I do to people when they make me angry?" Harry asked as he drug the man's immobile body into a nearby alley way, which he cast a genjutsu over to be doubly sure that no one would oversee or hear what he was about to do to the poor man. Harry reached into the frozen man's robe and withdrew his wand, waving it tantalizingly in front of the man's eyes. "Oh, look what we have here. This wouldn't happen to be yours by any chance, would it?" The Sage teased as he set his bag of purchases down for a moment so he could use both of his hands.

A loud snap echoed throughout the alley as the man began to yell, though his lips wouldn't part so that the scream could escape. Harry crushed the remaining pieced of the frozen man's wand in his hands before the remnants burst into violet flames, consuming the wood and core of the magical instrument of death. "You tell your… master that if he wants me, come and get me HIMSELF!" the shinobi shouted at the end, flaring his killing intent once again though this man seemingly refused to fall into unconsciousness.

Sweat began to pour from the man's brow as his eyes dilated to an extreme level, his pupils becoming pinpricks of black on a background of white. Harry released the Petrificus Totalus spell with a finite spell after he sealed away his purchases and charged the Chakra necessary to a shunshin due to the anti-apparition wards that sprung up around him. The Sage felt as around twenty more men were heading his way, each with massive reserves of magic that Harry would be hard pressed to match without resorting to shinobi techniques.

The prepubescent boy vanished in a swirl of silver and green leaves, leaving them to descend from the pillar of smoke that covered his exit away from the still dazed man who had fallen to his knees in shock, whether it was from his main wand being snapped or the killing intent that Harry poured through his being.

=+FoStA+=

Albus seethed as he stared down at the groveling man before him, the headmaster now located deep within his palace far removed from the Hogwarts castle. Only those of his own personal forces knew of the castles existence as well as Grindlewald and his troops. The man reported the incident that occurred in downtown London and was not happy in the slightest with the man's brazen move.

"Did I give you the order to stop the boy and bring him to me? No, no I do not believe you did. I told you all to NOT confront the boy just yet, to wait until Voldemort was taken care of. You have tipped my hand, and for that, you die." The elderly man roared as a pillar of flames rose from the ground and consumed the man quicker than the blink of an eye. Ashes scared the once ivory surface of the gleaming chambers that Albus currently occupied, the only remnant of the failure left to the world. With a twitch of his nose the stain vanished from the world as the 'grandfatherly' man rose from his throne.

"Let this be a lesson to the rest of you. Do not make the mistake this pathetic man made and you will live." And with a wave of his hand, the hundreds of men gathered in the large chamber departed two by two through the large double doors at the far end of the room. Gellert appeared out of thin air as he stowed away his invisibility cloak, wrapping his arms lovingly around the other man's shoulders.

"Calm down, you know they will not remain loyal if you kill them for each and every mistake. Rule through compassion, not fear. You know better than that!" Grindlewald admonished as he removed himself from behind Dumbledore.

"Your project worked wonderfully, Gellert, I feel better now than I have in decades. This body is truly marvelous; I doubt I could have controlled my inferno so well in my birth body even during my prime." Dumbledore cooed as he beckoned his old lover to follow him from the room. Once the two were alone, they both dropped their illusions to reveal that they no longer were wrinkly old men, each having the body of a man just entering his prime.

Albus's beard and hair was no longer the shiny gray that most were accustomed to seeing, now an auburn brown that complimented the man's icy blue eyes. Flawless skin the color of light bronze was distinct compared to his usually pale complexion. The mad man had started wearing red and black robes as he once did in his youth, no longer wearing the colorful rags that he used to make others think he was of the Light.

Gellert had a full head of black hair with extremely pale skin, pale enough to give Harry, Orochimaru and Voldemort a run for their money. The previous Dark Lord was clean shaven and sharply dressed with no distinct flair or fashion, indicating his lack of interest in clothing or looks, being more of a scientist than a role model like one Gilderoy Lockhart.

The two continued to talk as they walked about their private rooms, discussing current problems that the two would need to immediately see to solving. "America is no longer under our control, sure, but we still have an iron grip on Russia. Start funneling funds into increasing the arms production and development of our armada and army, I fear that someone else is just months away from doing the same for the colonies." Albus rattled out as he went through the list of the many problems the two must solve.

"Of course, that should be easy enough. Who do you think is going to attempt to sway my pet project further away from us?" Gellert asked as he flipped through the many documents that needed either his or Albus's signature to go into effect.

Dumbledore looked up from his list with a sad gaze. "Uchiha Itachi. I think the man has infiltrated Hogwarts and is currently running a smear campaign against me using pranks and illusions. I have yet to catch him, but this very strange energy has been hanging thickly in the air since the beginning of this year."

Gellert looked a bit shocked at his lovers' admittance. "Strange energy? Like our Crystal Sorceries, or something else altogether?" the black haired man asked quickly as he put the stack of paperwork in his hands down at once.

"Something else altogether, it has a slight twinge to it that feels like magic, but the rest of it is… so foreign it could almost be called alien." Albus answered as he pulled a large pipe from the inside of his robes, which he began to pack full of his 'special' tobacco. A flame appeared on the tip of his finger as he used it to light the plant, smoke filling the room quickly as he chiefed away on his pipe. Gellert was less than impressed with his lover but understood the need of the mundane plant that Albus was so fond of. 'If it keeps him calm, it is alright with me.'

Grindlewald shrugged his shoulders before handing Albus another stack of paperwork for him to sign, which the man did so without complaint as his focused eyes became slightly foggy. "That stuff smells much stronger than it used to…" Gellert mumbled as he cast a small wind spell to pull the smoke from the room as his body began to feel light.

"Oh yes, the Americans have discovered a new way to grow the plant using something they call 'hydo-pontics' or whatever it is they say. It is much stronger than it was during our day, that is for certain!" Albus choked out as he began to wheeze and cough, a pungent smell quickly taking over the entire room and the hallway beyond. The guards standing outside of their personal office began to feel light headed and started swaying on their feet, barely able to remain upright as they fell under the plants effect. After a few moments the two collapsed on themselves, snoring loudly as they succumbed to the sweet aroma.

"Albus, you really need to find something else to occupy your mind."

=+FoStA+=

It was a calm day in Japan, much more calm than it had been in a long time if the way people were smiling was anything to go by. Today was the day Itachi and his Troupe were to finish their first reactor on the island nation, thus removing Japan as one of the main contenders of Nuclear Power. The sound of a knife flying through the air caught Itachi's attention as he withdrew a Kunai from his robe sleeve to deflect the foreign projectile.

Two shadowy figures emerged from the darkened alleys behind the Uchiha, each bearing more sharp weapons of strange design. While close to the Kunai, these knives were significantly longer, more akin to a dagger than a knife. Traditional Shinobi garb was donned by his would be assailants, Black robes and facemask that completely concealed the two figures identity.

Itachi took note of the two quickly before he attempted to ensnare the two in an elaborate genjutsu. The two figures seemed to shrug off the illusion as they both burst into action, each dodging around two kunai and a brace of shuriken that Itachi had lobbed in their direction. Each of the shadowed warriors unsheathed the straight blades that were strapped across their backs while rushing at Itachi in a zigzag pattern.

'There are too many people around to use my more destructive techniques… why didn't the Genjutsu work?' Itachi asked himself as he withdrew a kunai in each hand, blocking the sleek black blades with little effort. Sparks flew from the grinding metal as a loud grinding noise filled the air; the two men soon realized that a full frontal assault would not work on this opponent. Shadows lurched up from around the three and swallowed the two shrouded figures, the anti-light encroaching further upon Itachi to consume him like the other two.

"Hmm, a very interesting magic technique. Too bad it falls short of glory." Itachi noted as he flew through three hand seals, the last being tiger while he pulled his right hand to his lips. His fingers made a complete circle around his mouth as he shouted, "Katon, Watarigarasu No Hikou Nenshou! (Ravens burning flight)"

Dozens of flaming birds rushing forward from the Uchiha's mouth, spreading out further than the Housenka (Phoenix Fire Flower) technique would have offered in comparison. The two stunned men jumped away from the large flock of burning birds with extreme prejudice, only one fully escaping Itachi's attack without a scratch, the other bearing a roasted left side with large cauterized gouges and boils that would most definitely kill the man due to infection if not treated immediately.

The wounded man immediately dropped to his knees after the pain from his blackened flesh finally registered; vomit retching forth from his mouth as he groaned in agony. The unscathed warrior vanished in a cloud of smoke, most likely the use of an old smoke bomb as opposed to any magic technique as far as Itachi could tell. The split second Itachi let his gaze drift to the escaping man, his wounded would-be capture had a kunai plunged into his skull by his comrade, stopping any chance of interrogation that the Uchiha would have had.

The dead body dispersed into a plume of azure energy, disappearing almost as quickly as the departed man himself. 'Tsk, what odd fellows. I have other things to do besides play with kids wielding pathetic parlor tricks and knives.' Itachi thought as his body began to break apart into crows which quickly flew from the empty street and into the waiting sky. The Uchiha clone ignored the wreckage and blades left in the wake of the battleground which would later be discovered by mundane Japanese citizens.

Itachi coalesced into a single person once again when he reached the city of Iwaki, a coastal city in the Fukushima prefecture of Japan. It was a beautiful city indeed, with bustling folks going about their daily business, most with smiles on their face.

The country really thrived after World War 2, despite the atrocities committed upon them after the false flag attack of Pearl Harbor. A concentration camp sprung up in the middle of the United States, holding more than six million Japanese American's in ghettos worse than the ones in Warsaw. Despite the two atomic bombs dropped on the island nation, the country continued on with its course with ceaseless growth, astounding the many countries around the world.

Itachi was here on a "leisure trip" away from Asylum One, hoping to take in the native culture that he had so many memories of, despite being dimensions apart. It was almost mind boggling at how closely their native languages coincided with the language spoken by the Elemental Nations, completely identical to those who didn't know any better. The people of Japan spoke a more archaic version of the Shinobi language, though it was close enough that Itachi and Harry were easily adapted to the language as well as any native citizen with a perfect accent.

Itachi lost himself in thought as he pondered his more recent memories. Visions that were his, but not his kept appearing in his head, of "his" little brother Sasuke and a fight with Kabuto, though the real Itachi was clearly dead in that world if Harry's hypothesis is correct. Techniques that Harry didn't impart him with were ingraining themselves into his being while he slept, though he dared not speak of it to any of his colleagues.

The clone of Harry was slowly but surely… becoming Uchiha Itachi, and it scared him. The man he began as was just another incarnation of Harry Potter and inadvertently Orochimaru and Voldemort, but those memories were slowly being filtered away by the onslaught of knowledge in his mind.

Itachi was broken from his thoughts as he finally arrived at his predetermined location, the large area where the Uzumaki-Uchiha clones were in the final stages of activating the Chakra Cores, the newest brainchild of Bellatrix and Itachi. Denuclearization had gone splendidly, both Japan and North Korea now completely without nuclear power plants.

The nuclear rods that were used to power the deadly generators were sealed away into a permanent sealing matrix, only for the seals to be purposefully destabilized so that the material sealed within would be lost in the void, not released back into the world after the seals finally dispersed themselves.

Akatsuki Reactor no.1 was now operational as a large clamor broke out from the surrounding area as a gathering of folks began to cheer at the success of completely breaking away from radioactive materials to support their power grid. Fireworks began to shoot off into the sky as hundreds gathered to celebrate the monumental day. Itachi smiled as he directed the entire scene from atop one of the trees under the meseigakure technique that Harry was so fond of thanks to the slight mental connection he had with the blood clone troupe.

Already other projects with the country were underway, mostly dealing with Tsunami and earthquake relief points so that the country wouldn't go the way of Atlantis in a few short years due to the overactive fault line the country resided on.

Reinforcement of their power grid and cities would be the first of the ventures, followed by securing the coastal regions from being swept away by the large waves that would surely follow any major earthquake. Drain points were going to be the most important factor, allowing the flooding element to drain away from the streets and homes quickly.

Itachi sighed as he walked through the crowd after hopping down from the tree and removing the invisibility technique while hiding himself from view in the shadows. Everyone was much more jovial than he remembered seeing them just a few months ago when he proposed the switch from nuclear power to Nature Chakra powered cores that were easily renewable and in extreme abundance.

Children were playing in the street with family members nearby to keep an eye on them, most likely one of the first times the children were allowed to relax and congregate due to the authoritarian nature of most Japanese folk.

He wandered the streets for a few hours as the citizens resumed their normal schedule after the spontaneous celebration, listening to the discussions of many as he tried to deduce their feelings on the subject and other complications that needed solving.

=+FoStA+=

Harry was a nervous wreck. Despite his self-confidence, the boy was a bit scared to meet his friend's parents. Hermione had told him not to worry about it, but something in the back of his head told him that the meeting was a make or break situation. The Grangers lived in a lovely home just outside of downtown London, a two story home constructed of white brick and oak. Their lawn was of exquisite quality, Fescue grass lining the earth and building while multiple rose bushes sprung up around the brick home, ranging from yellow to white roses.

'I do not believe I have ever seen a white rose before, how beautiful.' Harry thought to himself while he gently rapped his knuckles against the Granger family's door. Banging noises and the sound of skittering feet broke Harry from his thoughts as Hermione flung the door open, gasping for breath slightly.

"Hello, Hermione. How are you today?" Harry asked with a smile on his face as he stepped back slightly to get a better view of the girl. She wore an ebony colored dress with silver and green accents, almost matching Harry's state of dress perfectly if not for the gauntlets and grieves the girl still wore despite being home and away from danger. The dress was of a modest design, though easily of high quality as he inspected the fabric with a critical eye. 'Acromantula silk. Figures she wouldn't wear muggle clothing when she specifically told me to dress normally.'

"I am wonderful, Harry! Come on in, my parents have been waiting all day to meet you!" She practically shouted as she reached out and gripped Harry's hand, pulling him into the home and slamming the door after looking left and right for something.

"Harry, someone has been watching my home for a few days now, but every time I try and spot them, they would disappear. I couldn't tell you over the mirror due to my parents being within ear shot. Can you do something, please?" The girl practically begged after stopping just inside the hallway. Harry seemed a bit shocked at the revelation before he nodded his head, summoning two clones with a pulse of his Chakra. The two ANBU masked clones nodded their heads before becoming invisible, each disappearing to set up a parameter around the nicely furnished home.

"Alright, those two should be able to spot the offender whenever they show themselves again. Do not worry your pretty little head, Hermione, your safe as long as my clones are on patrol." Harry murmured lowly as he squeezed her hand gently, though he doubted she could tell due to the heavily armored gauntlets. Hermione smiled and blushed lightly at his words before nodding her head, pulling him into the living room where her parents were resting.

"Ah, you must be Harry! Come; let me get a good look at you!" Hermione's mother spoke up as she noticed the two enter the room at last. "My name is Emma, and this is Dan. It is a pleasure to finally meet you, Hermione has spoken very highly of you." The now identified Emma Granger said as she rose from her seat on the couch.

Dan eyed the boy critically for a moment before a smile broke through his cold visage. "Come on now, don't be shy!" Dan grinned as he too rose to get a good look at Harry. The young boy blushed slightly at Emma's words before he gently removed his hand from Hermione's. Emma was a beautiful woman with bushy black hair and eyes the color of chestnut. Alabaster skin gave way to a sleek black dress that closely resembled the one Hermione was wearing, though it was a bit more… provocative than her daughters was.

Dan was a powerfully built man with golden locks of hair and eyes as blue as the sky. A standard black and white suit covered the man's body, though Harry could still see the dense muscles that made the suit bulge in all the right areas. His skin was slightly tanned like Hermione, indicating that he was the one to spend most of his free time in the garden and outside in the sunlight while the mother obviously took care of the inside of their home. Though Harry couldn't tell for certain, he was almost sure that Dan's ears were pointed like an elf, but that was impossible as far as the young sage knew.

"It is wonderful to finally meet you as well, Miss Emma, Mister Dan." Harry spoke as he lightly bowed at the waist, something that caused Emma and Dan to burst out laughing. "None of that now, dear, no need to be so formal! Please, sit, we are eager to hear from you!"

Harry nodded slightly before he took his place on the couch to the side of where Hermione's parents were sitting, his first friend sitting closely by his side. 'Why is she sitting so close…?'

"So, tell me about yourself Harry, Hermione told us a good bit but we would like to hear it from you." Dan ventured as he picked up his glass of wine from the side table, gently swirling it in his hand. Harry seemed a bit taken aback for a moment before he finally spoke up.

"Well, I am eleven years old and currently attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I am a member of the Slytherin House as is your daughter. I enjoy exploring in my free time, and believe that the scientific process should be immediately introduced into the magical world, though it is doubtful they have the logic to use it." Harry listed off as he glanced around the room, trying to avoid eye contact with the Granger patriarch, something about the tanned man's eyes set him on edge.

The room was furnished nicely for a muggle home, cozy and quant like one would want in a home. Dark varnished wood lined the walls and made up most of the furniture and the blinds were drawn closed, encasing the room in shadows that was only fought away with golden lamps that adorned the end tables.

A large fireplace with a stunningly crafted hearth rested in the center of the furthest wall from the hallway, producing enough heat to warm the entire front of the house easily thanks to the roaring inferno contained within its stone mouth.

Emma slightly cooed at Harry's admittance, lightly clapping her hands in delight. "Wonderful, you seem to be as intelligent as Hermione says you are! Aren't you the one who taught my little darling how to wield a blade and shield?" Emma asked as she took a sip of her wine. Harry was more than a little unnerved by the woman's question, but attempted to answer it in a placating way.

"Yes, Ma'am. With how dangerous some of the things we will encounter are, I thought it be prudent that Hermione know how to defend herself outside of simple sorceries that are taught to first years." Harry finally grounded out after taking a moment to think.

Dan and Emma looked at each other for a few seconds before they both nodded as if they bought his explanation. "She will not be getting into any direct conflicts, correct?" Dan asked as he walked to the fireplace to stoke the flame before placing a large oaken log into the roaring inferno.

"As far as I know, no Sir." Harry answered as he quickly came to the conclusion that coming to Hermione's home was a mistake. Hermione reached out and squeezed Harry's shoulder gently when she noticed him growing more and more tense as the questions continued.

"You know you don't have to worry about me, Dad! I can beat you at least half the time we spar!" Hermione quickly butted in, hoping to defuse the tension before it could reach a critical point. Emma sank back in her chair a bit at her daughters' words as though she was removing herself from the conversation.

Dan stilled at the fireplace as he looked into the flames, not turning to face the three others in his living room. "Be as that may, Hermione, you are still my daughter. I do not want you getting into any risky situations, period. Is that understood?" His tone was cold, but the well-meaning behind the words was not lost upon Harry or Hermione.

After the harsh words, Dan turned back to his family and Harry and began to socialize once again, progressing the night in a more positive manner than previously. After an hour of socializing, Harry passed out the gifts he had bought previously after unsealing them from his wrist. For Hermione the shinobi bought her a whetstone large enough to use to sharpen her blade as well as a few training manuals that Harry himself wrote on the Snake style sword techniques that he thought were worth passing on.

For Dan and Emma, Harry bought jewelry that was heavily enchanted by Bellatrix and himself to not only give the two of them powerful protective magicks much like those that were present in Hermione's shield and robes, but also a 'good luck' charm so to speak to bring plentiful business to their dental office.

Hermione had gifted Harry with a few tomes of ancient lore as well as a few maps of antiquity that he might peruse to discover more of humanities most elder of secrets. The maps themselves came from Borgin and Burkes, thus likely invalidating their usefulness as far as accuracy goes but it was the thought that counts. The tomes however were gifted to Hermione by her mother Emma at a young age, which was passed unto her by her mother and so on. Harry was amazed at the amount of knowledge within the leather bound notes and profusely thanked Emma and Hermione for a chance to pour over the information within the time-worn pages.

Dan had simply given Harry a fifty pound note and told to get himself 'something nice', not knowing that Harry could easily purchase their home a thousand times over and still have money to spare. Nevertheless, Harry was grateful that the man would part with a large chunk of money by a child's standard for a boy he had only just met if only due to him being his daughters first real friend.

Dinner was a mostly quiet affair, the four eating their meals with contentment whilst listening to 'Christmas' music. Harry was less than amused by the mundanes' taste in music but did not speak on the issue seeing as Hermione was enjoying it immensely. Harry kept noticing the strange ways Emma would move and was more than certain that her skin was a pale bluish gray as opposed to pale when he glances at it out of the corner of his eye, and Dan was still sending him mixed looks as the conversation between the four continued.

It was as Harry was getting ready to leave that he knew something was terribly, terribly wrong. The two clones that he had posted outside of the house were popped by outside sources, which shouldn't have been possible due to where they had hidden themselves. All that Harry could discern from the fragmented memories is that his clones were blindsided by something that was moving too fast for him to get a good read on.

The windows all around the house began to rattle loudly as a thick fog began to seep from beneath the front door. All noise from the outside world faded away quickly, leaving the four in almost complete silence if not for the steady rattling of glass and the strange hissing noise that accompanied the fog.

Harry flared his chakra and summoned four clones, one for each of those present in the hallway leading to the front door. Emma and Dan were not as surprised as they should have been, Hermione's mother falling into a strange fighting stance while Dan quickly left into one of the back rooms, only to return with a strange sword and shield that screamed of elven craft.

The sword was made up of a thick golden blade that glimmered in the faint light while the handle was a royal blue in color. Starting at the center of the blade and going towards the tip, silver crescent moons were etched into the strange blade as well as what seemed to be twinkling stars.

His shield was larger than Hermione's by far and seemed so much more powerfully enchanted than anything Harry had ever laid eyes upon. A large pentagonal sheet of what looked like liquid silver was surrounded by a crimson border that had slight nicks and scratches in it. An old symbol for the sun was carved into the center of the silver shield; something that Harry thought suited the man who seemed to live his life in the outdoors.

Hermione quietly unsealed her own sword and shield, preparing herself for conflict while silently praying that everything turn out to be a false alarm. One moment she was standing still, waiting in consternation and the next she was being flung back by the clone that was summoned to guard her, away from the doorway which exploded into shrapnel suddenly. Harry took the brunt of the attack after reinforcing his body with Doton chakra to harden his skin, thus negating the majority of the damage he would have received if he hadn't.

Emma began to fling azure bolts of energy from her hands into the gaping hole where her doorway once was, striking a cloaked figure twice in the chest as it appeared through the fog that threatened to ensnare the entire house in its cold grip. The four ANBU clones were steadily lobbing Futon enhanced Kunai into the figures as they appeared, only for them to disappear after folding in on themselves.

Dan rushed forward and slammed the silver shield into the skull of one of the cloaked creatures, only to quickly follow up his attack by slicing straight down the middle of the creature with his golden straight sword. It was only after Dan bashed the creature in the head with his shield that Harry was able to get a good look at their attackers, and it would be something that would haunt him until the end of his days.

A skull as black as night stared back at Harry for a moment with baleful orbs of crimson before the demonic figure was slain by the Granger Patriarch, the white robe surrounding it collapsing inwards like all of its other fallen comrades. More and more of the phantasmal skeletons poured into the breached entrance, causing the four living beings to fall back into the living room as Harry flipped through a set of handseals.

"Mokuton, Sekai no Kirisuto Koutan!" (Wood style, protective world of nativity) Harry shouted as three branches of thick white wood broke through the tile flooring, completely blocking the large entrance the skeletons were using. Hundreds of small arms sprung from the wooden beams and wrapped around one another before locking themselves into place, barricading the four further from harm.

Hermione collected herself quickly after watching her mother, father and friend slay the foul creatures left and right, finally able to shake off the shock that set in after being flung away from death by the clone of Harry.

"What is going on here?!" The bushy haired girl screamed as the white cloaked demons began to phase through the wooden tendrils like they weren't even there. Harry could only watch in horror as one of the spirits shot its hand towards Dan who raised his shield to block the white dagger that was tightly grasped by the skeleton. The phantasmal arm phased through the shield and attempted to plunge it deep into Dan's chest if not for quick thinking on his part. The blond man fell backwards stiffly to dodge the blade, rolling away from the weapon and its wielder once his body was low enough to the ground thanks to his free-fall.

Harry attempted to use his Mokuton techniques against the creatures only for it to seemingly swipe away the floating cloaked figures midsections in a tuft of mist which quickly coalesced back into its rightful spot. Emma continued to shoot lances of blue magicks at the creatures, downing them left and right as Dan continued to swipe away with his gilded sword. The only part of the blade that seemed to damage the phantoms was the section that was decorated by the lunar crescents Harry quickly noted after his wand slipped into his hand.

The sage quickly pushed as much Chakra as he could into his eyes to activate the bastardized sharingan in an attempt to gather as much information about the skeletons and their attacks as he could. Each of the creatures seemed to be tied to an outside source by a small thread of magick about the width of most ninja wire. "Cepto Ververe! (Severing Lash)" Harry intoned as he waved his wand in an intricate motion. Eight beams of dull white appeared in the air around the young wizard before shooting towards each of the phantoms that entered the room.

The puppet skeletons faded into mist after the neutral wave of cutting energy severed the connection between them and their puppeteer. The room fell eerily silent once more as the sound of continuous dripping rang out through the partially destroyed home. A shrill creaking noise began to emit from the fog that still poured through the small gaps in the wooden construct blocking the entrance of the home from being breached once more.

Dan and Emma immediately grabbed Hermione and pulled her behind them as they readied themselves once more for conflict. The girl attempted to protest only for Harry, Emma and Dan to send her frigid glares that told her to shut up. More clones phased into existence around the room, each going through handseals before placing their palms on the ground.

The name of the technique was not spoken aloud as branches of white oak covered the windows around the room from being penetrated by any physical entry. The sound of wood being hacked away at broke the momentary silence, causing Hermione to jump with fright as a bright orange flame erupted around the black longsword in her grasp.

A translucent purple blade tore through the conjoined hands crafted from wood before a glowing amethyst eye peered through the gap produced by the blade. Harry felt a chill crawl up and down his spine as he prepared himself for another round of conflict. Anti-apparition wards were already up in place and if his assumption was correct, he would only have an extremely brief window of opportunity to evacuate Hermione and her parents away from the wreckage of their home.

'I am thankful that they can hold their own in combat, at least I am not going to have to babysit useless fools.' Harry thought to himself as he unsealed a single kunai from his wrist, holding it tightly in his left hand while his right held his illegally procured wand. The sound of hacking wood filled the air again and soon enough, Dan spoke to break the tension. "I count five different rhythms'; do you think you can handle two of them by yourself, Harry?"

"We will just have to find out, now wont we?" Harry probed as he forced himself not to snap at the casual question. 'Who the hell does this guy think he is?' Harry questioned in his mind as he shook his head in exasperation.

The wooden tendrils fell away soon enough as five large beings entered the living room quickly. A hood that seemed to be made of fur covered the faces of the warriors completely, though Harry could tell that they were most likely skeletal like the spirits they had fought against. Large plates of white metal crafted to look like bone protected the chest and stomach of the foul humanoids while pauldrons crafted of black metal covered their shoulders. Their waist and lower bodies were concealed by black trousers with grieves and kneepads covering their more vital areas. Double edged blades of old roman design were closely clutched in the dark wraiths grasp, causing Harry to groan at the ridiculous size of the swords.

"Alright, I do not think this is a good idea." Harry admitted as he stowed away his wand while withdrawing another kunai while pumping a steady amount of Futon chakra into each knife to lengthen them dramatically. The first of the warriors rushed forward in a blind rush while swinging its purple and black blade wildly, almost clipping Harry as he blocked with one kunai and stabbed with the other.

The skeletal warrior raised its empty hand with its palm facing Harry as a large shield of chaotic energies sprung into existence, blocking the wind blade that would have ran it through. Harry cursed and attempted to disarm the creature by attacking its forearm, only for the chakra blade to clink off the armor without leaving so much as a scratch.

"Doton, Doyryuheki!" Harry shouted as three miniature dragons made of mud rose from the ruined tile floor while spitting spheres of hard stone at the skeletal warriors that breached the wooden barrier. Only one of the strange creatures was killed by the attack, but it was enough for Harry to get a bit more breathing room.

Emma was holding her own with a conjured sword the same shade as the magic she was firing off earlier while Dan had killed one of his opponents and was working on his second. Hermione stood prepared in case any of the warriors broke away from the three protecting her, fear clearly evident in her eyes. She clutched her shield tightly while her blade was held deftly in her right hand, still burning with orange flames that licked hungrily away at the air.

Harry stomped his foot on the ground as he launched one of the kunai, tendrils of wood shooting from the ground to ensnare the warrior and hold him steady. The sneak attack was successful as roots wrapped themselves tightly around the skull of the demon, allowing the wind coated kunai to enter deep into its eye socket and into its brain, ending its life instantly.

The Granger Paterfamilias Spun on his right foot while holding his blade away from him, breaking through the final skeletal warriors guard long enough for Harry to launch a kunai into its skull like he did his own. Dan and Emma fell back and surrounded their daughter while Harry once again reinforced the room long enough to summon three extra shadow clones.

"Alright, I am going to evacuate us from the premise. Hold still while the clones help you out of this mess!" Harry shouted over the cacophony of more swords slamming into the wooden barricades. The Grangers nodded their heads slowly as each clone wrapped their arms around their passengers waist before diving into the earth using the hiding like a mole technique due to the anti-apparition wards in place around the home.

After confirming that the three made it out of the wreckage, Harry sealed away the bodies of the fallen skeleton warriors as well as their weapons for later study before he himself dove into the earth, but not before hearing an ominous laugh that was extremely familiar to him. 'Why do I have the feeling that this ambush was because of my presence?' Harry asked himself as he traveled through the chakra-laden earth with extreme speed, easily catching up to the retreating family before sending a message to his clones that it was safe to surface.

The clones dove back into the earth to make their way back to the house with a few more squads as reinforcement after Harry confirmed that everyone was alright, if just exhausted. Hermione was a nervous wreck while Emma and Dan scanned their surroundings after regaining their bearings. "That has to be one of the strangest techniques I have ever seen." Dan spoke as he flicked a clump of mud from his shoulder.

Harry shrugged before replying. "It is extremely useful in tight situations like this one. I can apparate us the rest of the way back to my home if that is alright with you, I do not feel like waiting to see if those skeletons can catch up to us."

Dan and Emma nodded and gathered closer to Harry so the tall preteen could wrap his arms far enough around the three Grangers before the four disappeared in a loud pop. Bellatrix was waiting at the Apparition port for the four with a few stamina potions, passing one to each of the four as she and Harry led the three to the infirmary to go over their wounds before supplying them with a large room in the completely converted mental hospitals.

"This has been one of the longest days of my life." Harry admitted when he and Bellatrix were finally alone, the woman staring down the boy with an unreadable expression. Harry stared back at her for a moment before his eyes quickly darted to the left, breaking away from her hypnotic gaze.

"What are you upset with me about now, Bellatrix?" Harry asked as he walked behind a thin standing screen so he could change out of his sweat soaked clothes in peace. The woman didn't answer right away, instead shuffling to the bed where she clutched a pillow close to her chest.

"I am upset that you didn't let me know you were in trouble, Master. I am supposed to be your left hand, I am supposed to protect you with my life, yet I only know your life is in danger when it was too late for me to help." Bella admitted as she wiped a tear from her eye, though Harry wasn't able to see it thanks to the screen.

Harry listened to her words and began to carefully formulate a reply that wouldn't upset the woman further. "I thought I had it under control, Bellatrix. I'm sorry for not contacting you, I won't make that mistake again." The boy confessed as he walked from behind the screen to the bed before laying down heavily. Bellatrix rolled over and wrapped her arms around the boys waist while pulling him closer to her warm embrace.

"It is alright, Master. Just don't do it again." Bellatrix murmured into his chest as her eyes closed slowly. Soon the two were sleeping heavily, enjoying their much needed rest after such a stressful day in the life of an Akatsuki member.

They were unaware of the plot against their very lives that was being formulated by different factions all around the world.


End file.
